A poem I wrote and a reply to it.

I wrote this poem Saturday and placed it in a poetry forum I run. It generated an interesting reply that I want to share here.

Shipwreck Soul

I do not have the strength to save you
from yourself,
nor do I possess the keys to heaven;
the free get-out-of-hell card.
I cannot give you sanctuary
from the demons within.

Once upon a soul, I gave you love
the death of my individuality...
what became of me
begot you an entity pure.
But as all love is prone to do,
you fell into a moment of truth.

The ecstasy of eternal bliss dies,
a slow meaningless death.
To keep love alive, one must stroke it,
like the fire that it is.
Left unattended it smothers to cinder.
Do you not know this?

I cannot save you, nor can I give love back
once it is gone...it is ash.
You have to find the way back
to your soul, to the heart of you.
All I can do is stand on the shore
and watch you sink or swim.
~~~~~
Sherrie
~~~~

Now the story behind this poem wasn't posted. But I'll share it here: The subject of the poem refers to Allen--my old love. I came across a letter he wrote me in 1999. I read it and threw it away. The poem above pretty much describes how I feel.

I posted the poem on a few poetry forums and on the one I own this is the reply I got:


"Very Good piece and you are right about power/love within BUT . .you could throw me a rope or a lifesaver

and see if I can figure out how to make use of it ;)

:))) t_z

one line can go "keys to heaven"we all have a set ;)

knock and the door will be opened

When the doors of perception are cleansed all will appear infinite-W.Blake"

~~ ~~ ~~
A bit of history about the guy. He's a Neo-poet. Neoism poetry is all about minimalism in poetry. They are big on saying little when saying a lot. They thrive on haiku and the slaughter of old forms (meaning they rewrite the works of the old masters. Cutting out excessive images, etcs to get to the heart of the meaning). I think whatever floats your ink as a poet is whatever...I have my own voice, another poet has theirs. As you can see, the guy flirts with me a little. I usually ignore it and reply to whatever suggestion he gives.

But this time I disagree with him about the "Keys to Heaven" line. It needs to remain in the poem. Because not everyone knows that all of mankind has a set. You have to believe in yourself, have faith in God to use your keys. Allen for example...he doesn't believe in himself. When we were together, he expected me to be his 'rock that he clung too in the currents of life.' Of course t_z doesn't know this.

The Keys to Heaven aren't necessarily keys to God. Heaven can exist inside our souls, but we have to create the garden with faith in who we are, in our ability to be happy with ourselves... we can't hold onto the painful past. There has to be a time when we need to let it go. And if we sleep with inner demons for too long, there is a big chance of losing all that we love.

When someone that you love, becomes a demon bent on self-destruction and no matter how much you love them, give up for them, offer them, you have to step away from the ship wreck of who they are or you'll drown too. It's called Self-Preservation. Belive me, darling...You can toss out all the life lines you want, but its up to that person to grab on.