The sun burned holes in everything she saw.
Or,
rather,
everything that saw her.
And yet,
still,
you were enamoured by her.
In this way,
she seemed unattainable.
She melted snow,
and stress,
and faces
She paved way for bloom.
Thawing the ice that stifled life.
She watched as people came together,
And as they broke apart
Her light and warmth turned people delirious.
Heatstroke?
Everybody a puppet of her strings-
her rays.
In this way,
she seemed so selfless.
But…
the thing about the sun is:
Her selfishness is not seen
nor felt,
but is monumental in it’s influence.
She wished to be your only companion,
your only muse.
She wanted for you to long for her in her absence,
Hiding quietly behind the comforts of her fluffy clouds.
Sometimes disappearing for days,
just until you start to forget about her.
Then peering out from behind the grey,
just to tease you.
She booked only a few extended vacations to see you.
You waited impatiently for these occasions.
Making plans for what you’d do if only she’d come too.
She thought of herself before you,
But you waited still.
As soon as she arrives,
though,
you pull away.
Retreating to the cool
and calm,
you forget how much you once longed for her.
You only wanted her when she wasn’t around.
Her warmth
and beauty
were too much for your bare eyes.
Finally,
She was here,
But you no longer wanted her.
You,
like many others,
left her waiting.
You spent her visit hiding,
away from her.
You no longer playing puppet to her strings.
You didn’t see her,
nor did you let her see you.
As soon as she returned to the comfort of her clouds,
They embraced her like you had refused to.
Maybe,
It was you who was unattainable.
In the end,
You were selfish.
A little clarification:
This piece started off as an in-class quick-write. If you look on my journal page, you can see the original piece (if you’d like):).
Structurally, this poem begins a new line at every point you would naturally take a pause while reading. I chose to do this to reinforce thst pause and provide the reader with a moment to pause and reflect.
For a while, I have loved using the sun as a symbol for many different ideas. In this piece, I chose to give it a female persona, speaking about “her” almost like a lover.
Around this one glowing star, life thrives but many seem to be interested only while “she” is not around. “You” represented the other half of this broken love story: the pursuant, the one interested only while an air of mystery and unattainability existed.
As I have said previously, in my about page, I am extremely interested in knowing both sides of every story. In this “story” I wrote from the perspective of an outsider looking in. That being said, I spoke directly to one of my “character”s while only speaking about the other. Through this, my goal was to depict both sides while establishing familiarity and comfortability with only one. I did this to make the ending revelation more powerful.
A takeaway:
Our opinions of others are often projections of ourselves. To understand others, you must better understand yourself.
