February 15, 2007

You (Collage)

You were the one who took care of me while my mother worked. You taught me how to draw clouds and swimming swans. You held me on your lap. You came home from the hospital when I was three. You held the towel as I stepped dripping from the tub. You said, "Why bless your little heart." You called me on the phone and talked to me as if I mattered. You were not interested in learning secret codes with me. You were older, and there was something about your silver hair that set me thrumming. You never sang. You said once that you were leaving something in God's hands, and seemed so calm about it. You studied for the algebra exam with me and then finally gave up, skipping rocks down by the creek. You left the top two buttons of your shirts undone. You were sent away to school and wrote me letters. You helped me learn to ski, remember that day when we kept almost sitting down on the t-bar? You betrayed me and confessed and cried and cried. You had a beautiful singing voice and drove us all crazy by seeming not to care. You were the one I wanted to kiss. You thought that I would never learn to cook. You met me our first year in college. You took the art class that I was the nude model for. You sat at my table even though I was eating through a straw. You were the one who loved and left me. You were my roommate during the "you can if you want to" year. You warned me. You could hardly walk, towards the end.

(Thanks to the women of Poetry Thursday
and the folks over at the Creative Act/ Create-A-Thing-A-Day project
for their continuing inspiration.)

7 comments:

Regina said...

Oh, the many, many "you's" we meet up with in a life time...
This was so good, really...

Jim Brock said...

Tremendous, this collage, the piling on all these indefinite yous, a compilation of identities that eventually create a kind of self-portrait.

Jessica said...

When reading this, my logical mind kept thrumming, trying to put the collage together. Really fascinating and well done!

gautami tripathy said...

I can sense the love even after the betrayal. How does one stop to love? Great reading...


You too can chk my post, Ambrosial.I would welcome critical comments for this prompt.

angie said...

Oh my goodness, this is wonderful. One of the few poems, ever, to put tears in my eyes. Seriously. I don't crack easily; I love its lack of cracks, its seamlessness between people. It is a song.

Bravo, bravo, Shelley.

Anonymous said...

Oh MY!! What a poem your life has become; so rich und so Menschlich.

Elspeth said...

What a great idea/tribute to all those you's.