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Monday, September 28, 2015

U



She says that U owe her
now
in her decrepitude
cuz she carried U
and popped U out
and later on applied the rod
in her blind and righteous way
and U've got the scars
as a badge of honor to prove it

She didn't know nuthin'
'bout raisin' no babies
but then she was a victim
of her old world culture

And now U owe her

I never even met mine
'cept briefly
on that first day

I wonder if she even looked in my eyes
or just said take him away
my fate already sealed beforehand

She didn't owe me a thing
save to hand me off to someone
who would pick up
where she left off

But U owe her
don't U know
for reasons
only the angels can fathom

And U will go
and do your duty

As if there were some conceivable way
this late in the game
to kiss it and make it all well














32 comments:

  1. You speak the truth and it resonates within me so deeply. No way to make it better. Thankfully we made our own lives better once we got the chance. I hear you about guilt and responsibility. I really felt this poem, my friend.

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  2. https://www.youtube.com/embed/pekhxxngQ3s?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0

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  3. I don't believe that blood shared trumps love shared(or the lack)--what goes around comes around, and your poem tells the hard truth about why.

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    1. Great to hear from you, witchy woman. Happy Halloween!

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  4. I don't see the debt. She lived her life the way she wanted. False guilt. I hope Sherry is right and that you've made a good life for yourself.

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  5. The blood link is not necessarily sacred... Not in such situations anyway. Very emotive writing,

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  6. The caring isn't always fair and it's hard to do when the bonds are broken ... or never formed. I love the use of U in this poem, visually and like a code for a deep place of feelings.

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  7. F that and the angels. I like how the abbreviations suggest clipped or incomplete thoughts.

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  8. Nothing can make genes repair what has been broken so.. love the abbreviations u used.

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  9. I wish these bitter tales didn't ring so true!

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  10. I don't understand the guilt trip or the obligation in this context.

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  11. As if there were some conceivable way
    this late in the game
    to kiss it and make it all well

    There obviously is an expectation and a desire to try to salvage it. It is only rational to do so!

    Hank

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  12. I suppose the questioning and yearning I understand. Don't know the circumstances here - or if this is fiction or non-fiction. I always celebrate a life allowed to live is a good thing - far to easy to have done away with it altogether.

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  13. Forward, young man! Not back. As if.

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  14. Wow that was heavy and I liked the slang it fit well! How many people feel this way probably lots!

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  15. Love
    trumps
    blood except
    for culture
    or Trump..;)

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    1. The burning question is: Who will trump Trump?

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  16. U owe her nothin'.
    Kind regards
    Anna :o]

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  17. Biology, the DNA & blood ties do not, can never trump love & responsibility. I was stepfather to three lovely little girls, & 23 years later the 7 grandchildren clustered at my knees are testament to that.

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  18. "only the angels can fathom' is the line that caught my eye here and is the take I am happiest with - thought provoking write, as the comments it garnered can testify... With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com

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  19. I don't think life can be exchanges of who owes who what. We really shouldn't OWE. We should, hopefully, WANT to.

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  20. Aw...that's so sad, really pulls you in

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  21. Hard truth in this. Sad. It is sad when there is guilt and a debt ...... We should want to.

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  22. Powerful piece.The only thing "owed" to anyone in this life, is to yourself. Never live with the feeling that you have to do or be anything to anyone out of obligation, and not of love and/or with free and happy will. If you choose otherwise, it won't be a contented life...for you or the others in it.

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  23. THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL WHO COMMENTED ON THIS. THERE SEEMS TO BE A CONSENSUS OF OPINION ON THE SUBJECT. SOMEONE ASKED IF THIS WERE FICTION...NO, IT'S NOT.

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  24. Some people are parents, others are biological contributors... no guessing which is owed something in the end.

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  25. This poem makes me cry ... cuz u hit the nail on the head, and that hurts ... and then I smile ... and then I laugh ... Boss, I have so much to tell you ... Love, cat.

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  26. I think confronting the truth is always useful – if painful, or wry.

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