Tuesday, October 18, 2011

"My Way?" -- A dVerse Post


The latest challenge from the dVerse Poets Pub is to write a poem on a taboo subject.

My subject is Anger... and it's only "taboo" in the sense that many of us are -- or should be -- afraid of what we're capable of when pushed to our limit. Like the "speaker" in my poem.

(And don't let the photo fool you. This poem is not about Frank Sinatra!)

Thanks for your time.

*  *  *  *  *

My Way?

It was bad enough that you betrayed me.
Betrayed me,
And those who swam in the same muddy streams as I did.
That wasn't enough.
You put the lives of those I held dear in jeopardy as well.
And they were innocents.
I kept them safe,
No thanks to you.
But still...
You put the lives of those I held dear in jeopardy as well.
And that, I could not forgive.

My connections were vast, and they found you.
You could run, but you could not hide.
They found you,
And delivered you to me
In a vacant apartment,
Tied to a wooden chair.

They left us alone.
You were helpless.
Defenseless.
Do you remember?
Do you remember what I asked you?
"How does it feel?
How does it feel for you to be helpless?"

And you cried.
You cried like the weak little man you were inside.
And I weakened,
And took pity on you.

As soon as I turned my back to leave,
You attacked me with a knife.
The very same knife which I'd just used
To cut the ropes that tied you.

My right hand held your wrist,
The wrist attached to the hand that held the knife,
And my left hand found your throat
And I slammed you up against the wall
Until I saw the light in your eyes fade to black.

Every so often, I do think of you,
And the old line "Regrets? I've had a few" is sung
Until Sinatra's voice fades,
To be replaced by the old Tom Rush song...
Entitled "No Regrets."

No regrets at all...

26 comments:

  1. Whoa! "The speaker"? I thought this was from your Irish Mafia days! I'm staying on your good side just in case. lol...

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  2. @Betsy: Sometimes a poem is only a poem.

    Like my last one... maybe?

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  3. Yeah, I know. Besides, running them over in your car is more your style...unless your left arm really gets to twitching. :)

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  4. Methinks milady doth know me too well...

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  5. At least they weren't too few to mention ;) It feels good doesn't it? To finally give the speaker the words to finally find their voice. Some times a poem is just a poem, but betrayal is always betrayal. Fact or fiction, the kick to the teeth is real. Heavy write, but I'm smiling cause ya wrote it...

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  6. Yeah, even with the Old English, the slight New England accent is still there! :)

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  7. @Tasha: I'm sure that somewhere, the "speaker" is smiling, too.

    @Betsy: But I do pronounce my ending Rs.

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  8. yeah...like "ah" :) ducks...

    hey did you like that play on words? Old English/New England?

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  9. Yes, I noticed, doll. (A good Grammar Nazi always catches wordplay like that.)

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  10. way to ratchet it up a notch fox...some really nice story telling through out and anger, yeah it will take us places we never thought we would go...just hope csi is not on the case...smiles.

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  11. @Brian: Dude, did you read the earlier comments? If I were "the speaker," I'd be more worried about Betsy trying to track him down than I would CSI! Their analytical minds have nothing on hers. Must be that old "repo girl" instinct. Man, if she teamed up with you, another ex-repo man, "the speaker" would be toast!

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  12. lol....oh that is so true! Watch out 'speaker'! hahaha.

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  13. riveting story-telling. Yes, I would say admitting to murder is much more the taboo topic here than anger. Nice take on the prompt!

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  14. Wow look at you going all anger poem on us today. Playing with dVerse too your way.

    Agreed never know what we'll do we pushed to the brick. But I do think every (sane person) has a line, a line they will not cross no matter what.

    Unless it's a line in the middle of the road, then you'll cross it and nail the mean backstabber with your car..haha

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  15. Note hope the above was okay from the kat, to get your grammar nazi skills at play, just a little fun from the K way...haha

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  16. @Betsy: So glad I'm not the speaker, with you and Brian on his tail.

    @seasideauthor: Thanks for visiting. Anger can be scary. It can save us during a crisis, if appropriately channeled. Or it can be the feeble excuse for abuse of another, weaker human being. So many shades of grey.

    @Sheila: Hey, I din't admit ta nuttin'! (And thank you for showing up here!)

    @Pat: Hmmm, "nail the mean backstabber with [my] car?" Have you been talking with Betsy again? (And nobody's gonna get that "K" comment!)

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  17. at least you've given him a second chance...ugh...great building up of tension here...think i try to never mess with you...smiles and nice to meet you

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  18. @Claudia: Gee, a guy writes something in the first person, and everybody just assumes...

    Besides, I have a perfect alibi.

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  19. haha - thanks for stopping by as well david....see you didn't scare me enough to detain me from coming back...smiles

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  20. I love bringing in the Frank song since it's normally associated with "good" not taboo things. It worked well here. Nice poem!

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  21. @Kate: It was almost a stream-of-consciousness thing, really. I thought of this small-time criminal-with-a-conscience, and whether or not he'd regret his actions in this case. Then I thought of the line from "My Way" (and it didn't hurt that people always spoke of Sinatra's mob connections). Then I remembered a Tom Rush song, and it all came together.

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  22. lovely case presented, everyone deserves a second chance,

    keep it up.

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  23. @The Noiseless Cuckooclock: Appreciate the comment and the visit. And hey, do you have a post based on the same dVerse prompt? I couldn't locate it!

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  24. Anger can make us do the unthinkable. Brilliant write.

    Anna :o]

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  25. @HyperCRYPTICal: Glad you stopped by. Thanks for your comment!

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