what's left

Posted by Douglas Galbi on October 12th 2008 to poetry

in times of despair
I make faces in a mirror,
or imagine myself
in front of a house

here, their
pulling petals off a daisy
I let the days fall away

* 2 Comments

2 Responses to “what's left”

  1. ronnie
    October 28th, 2008 | 11:58 pm

    this poet taps into a particular form of sadness. -despair- is a word that sounds so active, intense and is often called up in images of lamentation- almost celebrated, definitely a witnessed emotion in way that stands in contrast to-depression-.
    Yet the poem captures the true form of despair- the feeling of acceptance, a true giving up... but in a manner that is more peaceful that combative, more collected, less graceless, and in its true form, perfectly private. I wonder whether the word -their- is a typo. sounds more like -there- which translates the first line of the second stanza to -anywhere-. it breaks my heart to see the happiest flower in the world so slowly disembodied and in like manner the days. only empty...emptied days, disembodied days may fall away and ever so slowly.. in the manner of daisy petals making their way to the ground. The flow of the poem is slow thus imitating the slowness of time that accompanies the experience of this emotion. great poem

  2. Douglas Galbi
    October 29th, 2008 | 11:33 pm

    Thanks for your insightful comment. I am prone to typos. But here, there's a pun. "their house" looks across the divide of the stanzas. The speaker is outside their house. Yes, generalization of despair.

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