If P. Could Write a Poem for S.

Diana Instant+

    There's someone I want to be for you,

    a way I want to catch you
    when you lose your balance
    at the top of the stairs.
    I want to taste my fear of losing you
    and have it crack me open
    instead of making me numb.
    I want to be the rock you land on after a storm,
    not this tired rope on the anchor
    worn thin and threatening to break.

    You tremble
    you fall
    and I can't even cry.
     
    There's someplace I want to take you

    today and all the days after,
    where good intentions carry the day
    and love is the ultimate elixir,
    where not knowing what to do makes me the hero
    and loving me anyway makes you a saint.

    But you fall
    you tremble
    and I can't even cry.

    Here's the truth, if your constitution can stand it:
    I don't know what to do.
    Sometimes I freeze when I'm scared.
    I hate myself for not catching you,
    and this time I'm the one who's lost my balance.

    If I let you see me tremble,
    if I let myself just fall,
    maybe you can cry.

    Maybe you can take us to the place
    where good intentions carry the day
    and love is the ultimate elixir,
    where not knowing what to do makes you the hero
    and finally feeling it all makes me a saint.
     
    Maybe just for today.

"If P. Could Write a Poem for S." by Jen Lee

Comments

[Jenna/The Word Cellar]

brave. true. beautiful.

[Leslie Lee]

Wow... Chills - Connection and thoughts stirred.
Thank you, sweet friend! oxo

[rachael]

this is one of the most beautiful poems i've read. so brave.

it reminded me of this song by the low anthem (a wonderful folk bank from providence, RI)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeA-jYDrZYQ

lots of love, jen

[Jillian]

I feel this way all the time...about my husband, about my children, about friends sometimes. I always think something is wrong with me, that i am actually insane. That my brain is.....detached.
I am loving, yet I am bitter at the same time.

This is my interpretation of your poem. And it touches me deep down in my soul.

[Thea]

had to read this twice. It is insanely beautiful and wonderful.

[Michelle Shopped]

i'm a bit speechless after that -- started to write beautiful, scratched that, then deep, then no a fortitude within the quiet power of its words, no, then -- i don't know -- it's powerful and beyond words and isn't that what we learn poetry is? something that touches a part of us that is beyond words and yet we all know that part? and girl, you've nailed it here -- touching that un-nameable something that we all know...(so much for speechless, huh? guess i found my tongue after all ;)

[Amy]

My God, Jen Lee. This is brilliant and heart stopping and really melts me to my core. Thank you for your words here, today and always. Amazing doesn't even cover the half of it...

[meredith winn]

this is beautiful.
it reminds of things i wish my brothers could say to each other.

[emma]

Your heart is wide open and raw - a very beautiful thing. Thank you for sharing this.

[teryll]

I love it. Simply love it.

[Caiti]

This is beautiful, Jen. Brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing.

[Helen (Dixon Hill Girl)]

This is beautiful, Jen. Boy, can you write!

[Katie @ cakes, tea and dreams]

Wow. So, so, so beautiful - and honest and raw and vulnerable. Thank you.

[~Kristina]

gorgeous.
those last 3 lines resonate deep within me.

[chele]

Thank you. beyond words. take my breath away. straight to my soul. Thank you