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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Moment (February 10, 1990)


The pointy- toed-
shoe-in-my-eye-socket
hangover headache
made its
predictable
return.

The voice:
“How many days
are you gonna do this?”

Shutup.

My stomach felt like
every disease in the world
was inside me
fighting each other
for bragging rights.

7am,
which meant I wouldn’t
get back to normal again
until that afternoon.

The voice:
“Turn over and look out
the window.
Look at the sky.”

People always tried
to point out “nature” to me
which I always hated,
but I was in no condition
to fight.

I turned over
and pulled up the shade
an inch
and I saw it.

No clouds
to give a sense of perspective,
just a clear
blue
infinite
serenity.

It awakened my heart
and I smiled,
and as if on cue,
gossipy birds
sang and chirped.

I laughed
at how
“perfect”
it all seemed.

The voice spoke
one last time:
“OK, now what if
you’re not here
to enjoy this anymore?”

It was a question
too pointed to ignore,
and a moment too beautiful
to throw away.

I lingered in the moment
a few minutes more
before confessing my alcoholism
and changing my life.

(Check out Open Link Night at dversepoets.com)

9 comments:

  1. sounds like a spiritual experience to me. nicely penned.

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  2. Congratulations to you! And thank you for sharing this moment, the moment you turned your life in a new direction.

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  3. you know...glad it happened...and that the blue sky and your pointed toed shoe was enough...nice capture...

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  4. Particularly loved "the pointy-toed-shoe-in-my-eye-socket hangover headache"... brilliant writing.

    And great stuff, those positive life changing moments.

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  5. wow...sometimes it needs something like this to really change life...glad you did...

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  6. lots and lots of great lines in this one - "My stomach felt like
    every disease in the world
    was inside me
    fighting each other
    for bragging rights" - and that first stanza - great imagery and language! nice!

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  7. I absolutely love this poem and this story, kiddo. Kudos to you. I love how the birds started chirping right on cue. I watch a whole congregation of them outside my kitchen window all the time. They make me insanely happy.

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  8. Congratulations...that pointy-toed shoe in the eye hangover opened your eyes to life...Thank God it did...love them poem and the message.

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  9. Thanks for sharing this moment in words. Beautiful. I am so touched you would comment on my poem, you, with the blog titled I Hate Poetry! I must be doing something right. I will keep on visiting.

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