Thursday, October 24, 2013

A Literary Response to The Mark On The Wall

By Dillon Darnell

It caught my eye
walked by - dead set on forward motion
threw a wrench in my engine and now I’m in this moment
frozen in time...
now unthawed by my young thoughts watch as I
open my mind
this picture taken had been in a place that isn’t safe
on the refrigerator this magnet had in the pages of many statements
bills, the mortgage payment, it sort of made it
over shadowed by life’s hassles which correlates with
a reality heavy enough to pull you under
hits you in the present and doesn’t take a number
this picture landed face down
nearly six feet below my gaze upon the safe ground
of this house, so secure thank God I’m alive
but paralyzed on what could be on the opposite side
of this photograph
it could bring grief like an epitaph or peace that I never had.

A flood of feelings awaits
behind the dam of delay-I stand in its way
this captured moment wants to have a word with me
it hit the ground with the sound of emergency.

I was afraid
this picture could be from the fourth grade
with that silicone smile
plastered on my face
as a mask to hide the pain
because my parents went away, hadn’t seen them in a while.
no one knows but me, they said “cheese”
but all that I could see
was my mother O.D’ed 
maybe it’s not that photo
and it’s the one of my son
dressed like a Spider Man promo
I would crack a grin, but what happens then
is the pain of how life passes when you have to bend
and give and take
clock in and out
would strike a chord in my heart with the harmony of 
doubt
that paper work could’ve waited
my boy is growing faster than anticipated
maybe the other side is...simply blank
reminding me of the pictures that I didn’t take

A flood of feelings awaits
behind the dam of delay-I stand in its way
this captured moment wants to have a word with me
it hit the ground with the sound of emergency.

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words
it must come close to a million thoughts 
this developed dream of astounding worth
could show me what I missed getting what I got
this could be December 3rd, 2005
when I felt alive, became one with my bride
But no memories left untainted
because she gave me her heart, but didn’t know that I could take it
and damage love
Here I am still standing up
I don’t want to see 
what this camera once saw with a lens
more forgiving than a human eye
wanted to walk away then felt a touch to my side
“Dad, do you want me to get that?”
interpreted my silence as a yes, what a mishap
zoned out with the sounds of
Dad....Dad
Do you want me to throw away this ad.
An ad?
Consumer driven image of a T.V. that is bigger
then my entertainment center
Wow.....that’s it!?
So I say thank you for this time of reflection
redeem my regrets, refine my direction
Thank You
For this time of reflection
redeem my regrets
refine my direction.

A flood of feelings awaits

behind the dam of delay-I stand in its way

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