Once having been a young beauty,
resentment had now pinched her
features and aged her by decades.
The gripping tightness around
what could not be had
changed her into something
repulsive and somehow alarming.
She had given up a life that had
limitless possibilities instead to
isolate her focus on another.
Someone who carelessly
used her and she thinking
it was affection, ended up devoting
the rest of her life to emptiness–
her days spent endlessly waiting
and hoping for that which would never be.
Now she spun lies and spoke words
of fantasy, too ashamed to admit
even to herself the daydream
that her life had become.
Thursday Poets Rally Week 39: http://thursdaypoetsrallypoetry.blogspot.com/
Bodhirose's Blog 
Paulo Guimaraes
/ March 3, 2011Powerfully sad tale you weave,hun! Good stuff!
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011Thank you, Paulo, I really appreciate that.
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Artswebshow
/ March 3, 2011It’s an excellent poem.
I believe a great many people end up in this situation.
Terrible really,
Really well put across in this though
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011I appreciate your kind words here, Richard. Thank you so very much. And I agree, too many people end up in this scenario.
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krissie
/ March 3, 2011awww. how sad… I echo the words of artswebshow comment too.
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011Yes, sad. Thank you, Krissie.
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bendedspoon
/ March 3, 2011sad but true how most of us ended to wasting the time…beautiful poem! 🙂
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011I appreciate your kind comment, Bendedspoon. Thank you. 🙂
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Life: Between the lines
/ March 3, 2011OMG!!!! I am crying like a baby,,,,OMG!!!!!
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011Wow, I didn’t expect this reaction! OK, now?
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Jingle
/ March 3, 2011hope for a rebirth…
well done ..
have fun!
😉
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011Yes, a rebirth and try not to make the same mistakes again! 🙂
Thanks, Jingle. xoxo
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lolamouse
/ March 3, 2011This happens so often and it is so sad. We women often lose ourselves as we focus so much on others. Beautifully expressed.
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011Yes, we women seem to be more susceptible to this malady–so sad when it happens.
Thanks, Lolamouse–I appreciate your kind comment.
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Paula Tohline Calhoun
/ March 3, 2011Very nice and heartfelt poem, it says so much and brings forth a great deal of emotion – always a nice trait for a poem!
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011I appreciate your lovely comment for me–thanks so much, Paula.
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apollorose
/ March 4, 2011This reminded me of the movie Sunset Boulevard.
And also, when some are younger they want to become adults so fast, and when adults they want to become young again.
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011I looked up that movie–I never saw it but it looks like one I would like.
Never happy with where you are in life can be a real waste…
Thank you, Apollorose.
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apollorose
/ March 18, 2011I agree.
Have a nice weekend. 🙂
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Bodhirose
/ March 19, 2011You have a nice weekend too, Apollorose. I’ve already started mine by attending a baby shower this afternoon. 🙂
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eclipseofthemoon
/ March 4, 2011Beautifully, sad…emotionelly charged…. one word – excellent!
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011What a nice thing to say–thank you so much.
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Andy
/ March 4, 2011Beautiful poem and it is so sad how potential and happiness can be clipped in the bud. Thank you. Also I love the name BodhiRose.
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011Yes, that bud can be nipped at a young age and then your life can just kind of spiral down after that–tragic.
Thank you for the nice comment, Andy, and loving my name too.
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Olivia
/ March 4, 2011This is sad!
Been there.. but was quick to spring out of it. Although I am still spinning and yet to find a base. Till the time I find a ground to stand at, the consequences would keep haunting my state of being..
I know it’s over 🙂
– Smiles –
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011Yes, it’s sad.
When caught up in this type of scenario, it can leave us reeling for a long time. Just feel grateful that you escaped, Olivia! You will find your footing again–because you are looking for it. 🙂
Love and hugs…
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fiveloaf
/ March 4, 2011you nailed me on this one gayle- encore encore!
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Bodhirose
/ March 4, 2011Why thank you, Kris! What a generous comment for me. Makes me happy…
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Inside the Mind of Isadora
/ March 4, 2011Very nice, Gayle, I love the story told and how it showcases how lives, sometimes, are wasted. The photo is perfect, too.
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Bodhirose
/ March 5, 2011Yes, this happens too frequently–it is a sad life–one spent pining after another.
Thank you, Isadora.
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musingbymoonlight
/ March 4, 2011Oh Gayle, fine poem, sad story. Probably more common then we’d like to think.
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Bodhirose
/ March 5, 2011Yes, I would agree–too common. Thank you, Jamie.
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A.B. Thomas
/ March 5, 2011Sad yet brilliant write
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Bodhirose
/ March 5, 2011I really appreciate that nice compliment–thank you, A. B.
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Rajlakshmi
/ March 5, 2011whatta touching piece… very well expressed
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Bodhirose
/ March 5, 2011Thank you very much, Rajlakshmi–I appreciate your nice comment.
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Helena
/ March 5, 2011This has to be one of the most poignant pieces of writing I’ve come across. This will be one I’ll return to time and again.
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Bodhirose
/ March 5, 2011Well, Helena, I am very touched by your very generous comment for me. Thank you so much.
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BUTTERFLIES OF TIME
/ March 6, 2011the sadness haunts your poem.. it is so difficult to break free of such a relationship
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Bodhirose
/ March 6, 2011Yes, we can sometimes get so enmeshed with another that we forget the value of our own lives. Tragic really.
I appreciate your visit–thank you.
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Marlee-I Mystic
/ March 6, 2011Wow Gayle! What a vivd picture you paint. And what a true story for so many women. GREAT JOB!
Here’s my rally entry- http://mysticmarleei.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/341/
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Bodhirose
/ March 6, 2011Thank you, Marlee–I take your kind comments to heart–I really appreciate your words for me.
Happy Rally–and thank you for your link. xoxo
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trisha
/ March 8, 2011this was painful gayle. very painful. how people use others, waste their lives and then leave them and move on.
hope everyone who is wasting his/her life for a noncaring person reads it and moves forward.
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Bodhirose
/ March 8, 2011Yes, it’s a truly painful choice. People become blinded and focused on only one part of their life and cannot seem to move on. Such an empty way to be.
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trisha
/ March 10, 2011love often consumes.
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Bodhirose
/ March 10, 2011I don’t name this love–it becomes more like obsession.
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trisha
/ March 13, 2011love, passion, lust, obsession- they are pretty similar.
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Bodhirose
/ March 13, 2011They all do have some similar qualities.
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trisha
/ March 16, 2011often its next to impossible to sort them out.
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Bodhirose
/ March 18, 2011So true–very hard to sort out.
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sillyfrogsusan
/ March 8, 2011So sadly, this speaks to me more than I would hope it would…you nailed this one!
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Bodhirose
/ March 8, 2011Thank you, Susan. I see some of myself here too–too many years spent with someone not good for me…
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seabell
/ March 8, 2011We all daydream, young or old… And if life is sad, better daydream! Being used is a very different aspect. Anyway, your poem is an invitation to think…
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Bodhirose
/ March 8, 2011Yes, we all daydream but when our entire life is based on wishing or hoping it could have been something else (or with someone else) that is where the sadness lies.
Thank you, Seabell, I appreciate your visit and comment.
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dragonkatet
/ March 8, 2011Woof! What a powerful piece! I really liked your line breaks – they give the read more depth. Such a tragic subject and one that too many unwittingly fall into. Having ‘been there, done that’, I can say you captured those emotions perfectly with this. A hard lesson to learn that a person has to be 100% complete, in and of themselves, and that no one other person can ‘complete’ you. 🙂 The image was very appropriate too!
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Bodhirose
/ March 9, 2011Thank you so very much for your lovely comment. Yes, a tragic topic that I’m sure most can relate to on some level. Best to be completely whole on our own and have people in our lives that can complement us but not complete us! So glad you like this.
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yelena m.
/ March 25, 2011Gayle, I love the poem and the image, very appropriate.
I also agree that it’s better to break free from a hopeless relationship.
But I also wonder..May be it is worth keeping if there is even a little ray of hope, a certain degree of uncertainty that makes one believe..Or is it just a mirage..
Anyway, thanks for sharing a lot. Means much to me.
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Bodhirose
/ March 26, 2011I’m so glad you liked this, Yelena. There can be a fine line between feeling hopeful and hopeless–sometimes it will waver between the two feelings from day to day. But I would say that if you find yourself consistently unhappy or somehow being controlled by someone else’s wishes over your own…maybe time to move on.
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yelena m.
/ March 26, 2011It’s very true that line is very elusive when there are no certain answers. ‘One hope is too like despair…’, as Shelley wrote. And sometimes there are bonds between the two which don’t let go because of light and memories associated with them…Too close to heart.
Thanks for your reply, Gayle, keeps me thinking and trying to revaluate things.
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Bodhirose
/ March 26, 2011You’re welcome, Yelena.
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jgavinallan
/ April 25, 2011Even if you devote only a small part of your life and love to “isolate her focus on another”—It still hurts.
Your words are filed with not anger, but hope. Hope gained that past experience will lead to a bright future.
Jaye–piao liang(beautiful)
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Bodhirose
/ April 25, 2011So very true–even a small span of time can hurt. We can always hope that we will learn through our experiences and have a better future–there’s always the ability to bring change.
Thanks so much for visiting and leaving me this thoughtful and kind comment, Jaye.
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