Sunday, February 24, 2008

Channeling Mr. Waits


strumming here on this cold winter night
trying to wrestle getting it right
numbed by reality
tired of it all
can't get you in focus
can't get you to call


fogs rolling in blinding the trees
naked bare boned knuckles and knees
scraped by its wake
bloodied and bruised
no one will want me
torn battered up used.


I'm numbed by reality
tired of it all
can't get you in focus
can't get you to call.
I guess I don't blame you
there's no second chance
when hurt has replaced
a broken romance.



i lay here shackled wondering if He
pays any attention, hears my deep pleas
cried out sorrow
tattered old song
your love I have wasted
your trust has all gone.



I'm numbed by reality
tired of it all
can't get you in focus
can't get you to call.
I guess I don't blame you
there's no second chance
when hurt has replaced
a broken romance.



night crawls with echos of your tender voice
I long to forget, I messed up my choice
yearned and forgotten
i lie here alone
aching for nearness
chilled to the bone.


sleep is a memory fading away
replaced by loud silence covered in grey
ripped from your faith
blame shares my skin
even Jesus has left me
distrust soaked in sin.


I'm numbed by reality
tired of it all
can't get you in focus
can't get you to call.
I guess I don't blame you
there's no second chance
when hurt has replaced
a broken romance.



This week's prompt on Writer's Island is "second chance..." For some reason, Tom Waits has been visiting my internal CD player this weekend, so I thought I would try my hand at a piece of broken heart yearning.... hope you like it. :) For more glances at second chances, click right HERE....

13 comments:

JP (mom) said...

Tom would be proud! I like the repetitive nature of the key lines. Great job, my friend. Excellent poem. xx, JP/deb

Shaz said...

I loved this it was beautiful you are so clever ;)

ren powell said...

battered and wiser? (once off the floor, of course).

awareness said...

Deb...thanks. I read it to my daughter and she said it sounded like a song by Teeghan and Sarah? This is a band she's been listening to and sharing with me. Good to know one can impress ones daughter every once in a while.

Shaz....thanks...i found part of it the other night very quickly and then worked on it, trying to find a chorus of some kind to pull it together.

ren kat....isn't funny how listening and singing to a heartbreaker song can empower you? Yes, off the floor, with new scars from loving until it hurt perhaps?

Marja said...

Absolutely magnificent !

anthonynorth said...

A powerful read. And realistic.

BreadBox said...

... and it's time, time, time,
.. and it's time, time, time,
and it's time time, time that you love,
and it's time, time, time.....


It's not just my *internal* soundtrack that Mr Waits plays on:-)

N.

awareness said...

Marja...thank you. it was interesting to write.... i don't often "visit" those feelings...who wants to really...... but they are in all of us arent they? I guess it's like acting.... writing can give us a chance to channel our own extreme feelings while being in a safer place. does that make sense?

tony...i'm glad to know the "power" came through....

hey N....perhaps we all have Tom Waits inside our dark zones?

Rainbow dreams said...

I have read this several times today...

it's not an easy read...

indeed I would love to hear this to music, and sad that many people will be able to relate to those feelings too...

takes me back to alcohol fuelled evenings and the aroma of smoke infused with illegal drug use in dark corners of London...

awareness said...

Katie...yes, I picture listening to Waits-like music in dark cavernous place too...

If we can feel the depths of what Waits sings.....and the depths of the angst I tried to convey in this piece, I believe it give us the gift of soaring the other way as well........ and that makes it more appealing to me.

I would LOVE to hear it put to music. maybe i'll pass it onto a friend of mine to see if he can find the tune.... :)

Karen said...

I can definitely relate to this Dana...too well I'm afraid.

Unknown said...

I adore Mr. Waits...his music is perfect for this time of year.
Jim and I have it playing a lot.
NICE job with this!

awareness said...

Gypsy....it's a very difficult place to pull oneself out of when it happens.....it takes energy which for the most part is spent because of the intensity of the loneliness. I think this is when prayer and self talk is put to the test.

Tori...you're so right. this time of year should be called Waits time.....the long cold nights, grey days. today is a perfect Waits day with all this snow and gloomy weather. i'm home with the flu too, feeling very crappy. I best be staying away from Tom today or I'll end up in a corner curled up in a fetal position.

happy, happy........

blah......