Cut the crap with the cliché diction!
I wish you were merely a “lingering memory.”
Your wanted poster still haunts my mind
Where you reign number one public enemy.
Alarms sound and adrenaline spikes
At any mention of your name,
And whenever something reminds me of you
My breath still hitches all the same.
How watered down is that expression!
“Lingering memory”- like a bitter taste.
Instead you ever stain my brain
Like blood-red ink I can’t erase.
This one was written for a poetry prompt that I did a couple weeks ago on the prompt “Memory.” On the post that gave the prompt, I noticed that most of the poems that were written in the comments had something to do with the “lingering memory” that they had of a past lover. And to be honest, it made me a little angry because they all wrote so gently about it, and from my experience, the feelings that arise from not being able to get someone out of your head that you don’t want there is quite infuriating. I’m in no way trying to undermine or invalidate the feelings of those other poets, but I felt like it was a bit unfair that it seems like they don’t go as crazy as I do; like they’re equipped with a little more sanity that I wish I had in the face of lost love.
The feelings expressed in this poem aren’t ones that I really feel now, but sophomore me would have most definitely written this poem, and with much more fervor in their heart. Here’s to all the folks out there who have experienced the madness that comes with trying to forget a lost love: this one’s for you. Cheers!
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