I decided to try therapy when I realized
My deepest conversations were not with humans.
It struck me after I told my dog,
“Pip, you’re the only one who understands me.” Pip always looks like he’s smiling,
And he gives lots of dog-kisses.
Good qualities in a spirit guide, but
He can’t help me sleep,
He doesn’t make me want to stop eating,
He doesn’t force me out of the house.
In fact, he whimpers when I leave. My therapist tells me I’m hiding from
The world. I need to accept that people
Will say things like
“I’m not attracted to red-heads,” or
“We should just blow them all to the stone age.” My fantasies are unhealthy escapism.
I can’t live in Alaska with Grizzly Bears,
So I should stop thinking about it. My therapist is a good therapist. I’ve
Learned a lot, I understand myself better.
I hate my therapist. All of her genius
Can’t help her from making me feel
Different, like everything else does. Tonight, when I feed my dog,
I’m going to put my food on the floor and eat with him. |
Hi Toad
Written by jean.day (2283 comments posted) 20th December 2006 | I liked this poem. It has a lot of emotion in it and paints a real picture. Poetry is not my speciality - so somebody like Patterjack of Elli could do a better job of commenting on that.
I liked the ending - but of course our dog ate mostly ordinary food so it wouldn't have been too hard to do that with her. |
Written by Witzl (1585 comments posted) 21st December 2006 | I'm not much of a poet myself, but I like this poem too. I like your acknowledgement of your dog's limitations as a friend -- funny, but true. Dogs are great enablers, unfortunately, telling us what we want to hear about ourselves rather than what we ought to hear. I also like the way you accept that your therapist has helped you, but acknowledge her limitations too.
I remember that stone age quote -- was that not GWB talking about Afghanistan? He can't even spell it, and I'd be amazed if he could place it on a map, and besides, Afghanistan had already been pretty well razed from 1979 through 1988 when the Russians were there, but GWB is all set to blow it up. What a great guy. I'd certainly rather have dinner with my cat on the floor than spend a lot of time thinking about all the things he's done.
|
Written by Thatllbemethen (83 comments posted) 21st December 2006 | This didn't strike me as being a poem, more like a diary entry, and as such I found it powerful and moving.
Liked it and have read it several times. |
Written by Snodlander (501 comments posted) 21st December 2006 | Sad and funny at the same time. I don't have a dog, instead I have conversations with myself. Which turn into arguments. Which I lose. But still, it touched a cord. I like the concept of blind flattery not helping you. Which I guess is what this site is about.
But that's what I'm going to do here, as I don't know anything about poetry, but I know what I like. And I liked this.
And Witzl, you were exactly right, except it was Armitage and Pakistan. |
Written by Toad (100 comments posted) 21st December 2006 | Thanks all. I confess to being quite proud of this poem, I think it captures the angst of feeling different, but in the end the speaker lets go of it and accepts himself.
Yes, the line about blowing people to the stone age was inspired by all of the blind hate that I witnessed when my country invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. I couldn't understand how people could get excited about bombing another country and killing scores of civilians. It sickened me, and although I know many others feel the same way, it made me feel very out of place in the human race. |
Written by ellipinnock (1753 comments posted) 21st December 2006 | Liked this very much (Jean is being far too kind - my knowledge of poetry is far from extensive). When I read this aloud it was a little bit awkward in a couple of spots and I'm not sure the line breaks are all in the right places. However, that said I enjoyed the read, thought it was powerful and so am in agreement with your other reviewers! Great stuff.
Elli |
Written by Phil (6730 comments posted) 21st December 2006 | Moving and emotional piece. Not sure about the quality of the poetry, but like Snaodlander, I know what I like, and I liked this very much - particularly the end.
Phil. |
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