Marbles
Marbles
All my life
People saw me
And said I was a picture of you.
??
All inspiration
Is dead inside.
Broken.
Empty.
Empty like the can of marbles
You brought home
When I was twelve.
And you tumbled
The colored glass spheres
On the floor
And yelled “Take what you can!”
You thought it would be a treasure hunt,
But
They rolled around on the floor
In their metallic colors
And their pastel sheens.
When I walked
They pierced the bottom of my feet
And gave me blisters.
??
So I ate them all.
One by one
I picked up the marbles
And saw you in them.
So I ate them all
To keep a picture of you
Inside myself.
Now I’m not twelve
But twenty two
And the marbles
With your eyes
And your smile,
They are stuck inside my body,
And are pushing against
My skin
Forming ugly, round pustules.
??
See,
You broke me
Inside and out.
You broke me at twelve
And then again at twenty two.
You!
Yes, you!
Now,
Your treasure shatters inside me
One virulent marble at a time.
Soon,
I will be all glass,
And no blood.
But, you,
You
My reason for breaking,
My inspiration for being,
You,
You will not carry me to my grave.
This is how I will punish you
For what you did to me
At twelve
And then again at twenty two,
Because even today
People see me
And say I am a picture of you.
Beyond words!! this poem gave me goose-bumps. It’s the nearest thing to perfection I’ve ever read, definitely one of your best works! The repetition works wonders, the accusing ‘you’, the bit about the picture and what I love about your poems is their circularity. I loved the beginning and the end.
“Because even today
People see me
And say I am a picture of you.”
Too good!
What can one say? I hesitate to comment on these pieces because they seem sooo close to your heart. But this is haunting and heartbreaking…I will say no more…
9.5/10
OH MY GOD! i seriously doubt ive read poems better than this…n im talkin bout ALL da poems ive ever read…
Masha’Allah…truly awesome!
Wow. I am at a loss for words.
yar kya baat hai. its amazing. so very very very kool. a mean person like me can have tears reading this. its so good that i can actually read this and NOT be interested in the chinese food from the mall we ate
it does send thrills down ur spine, and amazingly from such simple words and struturally simple sentences…love it