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Things left unfinished.
Going through a pile of books for something specific today, I happened upon half a sonnet I'd completely forgotten trying to write. Followed by a sizable bundle of notes and lines and drafts from the summer before. Some quite nice lines, that deserve to be set in a complete poem. Some that were discarded because they weren't going anywhere and doing it awkwardly.
Plenty of ideas and notes that I wrote thinking 'I simply must turn this into a poem' but haven't, yet.
And spread over half a dozen sheets, written around and through a bunch of other poems, one that I did finish. It was the reason most of the other scraps made it to paper. I had an idea I wanted to impress upon someone, and figured putting it in verse would make it more convincing. Kept those pages in my pockets for weeks, agonising over a line at a time.
Except for the ocassional awkward - if earnest - line, I am and was pretty happy with it in the end.
We only really see ourselves
reflected in another's eyes.
Until they show us as we are
our heads are filled with doubts and lies.
Convinced that we are ugly or
at best are merely rather plain
if we see someone look our way
we're sure they're staring with disdain.
Or maybe we hear someone laugh
and blush and think it's us they mock
we think it might be best to hide
alone behind a door and lock.
We only really know ourselves
revealed within another's thought.
Without the truths reflected there
we think we could be sold and bought.
It's easy to think what we do
defines us, but it's what we are
that means the most. Caught up in life
we often miss what from afar
shines obvious, a beacon built
of beauty. Others, though, are drawn
towards that light, are proof it's there
in spite of darkness, shame, or guilt.
The way that we perceive ourselves
can differ in another way
They might see only positives
while in our mind the bad holds sway.
Now here we have two ways to look
upon what is a single thing
just looked at through a different lens.
Another point of view can bring
new colours that our image lacked.
What first might seem to contradict
instead can sometimes compliment.
Difference need not mean conflict.
The truth is that we never see
the entire picture on our own
It takes someone to come along
and fill the gaps in what we've known
At least in what we thought we did
'cause as I've shown we can be wrong.
We need to add another's view
so our self-image can be strong.
And once we have perspectives gained
enough to have a stronger sight
it's then we can be confident
that what we think is in the right.
Plenty of ideas and notes that I wrote thinking 'I simply must turn this into a poem' but haven't, yet.
And spread over half a dozen sheets, written around and through a bunch of other poems, one that I did finish. It was the reason most of the other scraps made it to paper. I had an idea I wanted to impress upon someone, and figured putting it in verse would make it more convincing. Kept those pages in my pockets for weeks, agonising over a line at a time.
Except for the ocassional awkward - if earnest - line, I am and was pretty happy with it in the end.
We only really see ourselves
reflected in another's eyes.
Until they show us as we are
our heads are filled with doubts and lies.
Convinced that we are ugly or
at best are merely rather plain
if we see someone look our way
we're sure they're staring with disdain.
Or maybe we hear someone laugh
and blush and think it's us they mock
we think it might be best to hide
alone behind a door and lock.
We only really know ourselves
revealed within another's thought.
Without the truths reflected there
we think we could be sold and bought.
It's easy to think what we do
defines us, but it's what we are
that means the most. Caught up in life
we often miss what from afar
shines obvious, a beacon built
of beauty. Others, though, are drawn
towards that light, are proof it's there
in spite of darkness, shame, or guilt.
The way that we perceive ourselves
can differ in another way
They might see only positives
while in our mind the bad holds sway.
Now here we have two ways to look
upon what is a single thing
just looked at through a different lens.
Another point of view can bring
new colours that our image lacked.
What first might seem to contradict
instead can sometimes compliment.
Difference need not mean conflict.
The truth is that we never see
the entire picture on our own
It takes someone to come along
and fill the gaps in what we've known
At least in what we thought we did
'cause as I've shown we can be wrong.
We need to add another's view
so our self-image can be strong.
And once we have perspectives gained
enough to have a stronger sight
it's then we can be confident
that what we think is in the right.