The curse of bad timing

HannahElisabeth


Notice of absence from HannahElisabeth
Taking a long overdue mental health vacation. I will check in when I can.

Years and years gone by

Couple hundred miles apart

And here I come to find

You with that old piece of my heart

 

And just like that, I’m taken back

To whiskey lips and cigarettes. My old car and you’re shotgun

Going nowhere for hours,

Entranced on parking lot pavement. Wondering how we got here. After months of clumsy

small talk, stolen glances

And you’re beaming as I tell you of my plans to paint my furniture, dumbfounded as to

why you’re so enraptured

Said we should go home soon, but talk is cheap, and no one moves

My god, your smile lights up the room - or any space - for now, my car

And suddenly I’m falling hard

You admit, we both are—shifting quickly into past tense

 

Harder still, we go

 

Wine glass in my hand, you’ve got that look again. This is why you couldn’t look at me,

you say. You knew you’d give yourself away. Both madly in love with the smallest of

details…

Old typewriter in the corner,

Your eyes,

Your voice,

Impassioned rants about music and how you love Joyce

That look you had every time I bit my lip, at one point was subconscious then I did

it just to see it

Riding top down in my car, adventures with our playlists

Already knowing I’m going to wreck this. Came out of the blue, we didn’t expect this

Crying in your arms with no explanation. Young and naïve and afraid of

commitment. Finger on the trigger, I can taste the resentment

 

Just like the bad habits I was trying to break then,

I kept pieces of you everywhere that I went. From the Jameson in my veins, taste of

menthol-bummed-cigarettes, typewritten font, and that scene from Atonement

My notebook meant for history, filled more with love notes to you

But you’d already moved

 

And then I, onto other things, building different lives

 

There were reasons I didn’t see you when you came to visit

Wasn’t just him who stopped me, though I do still regret it

I knew myself better than to risk it. Guess I finally worked through

my fear of commitment

 

Favorite whiskey on the rocks now burns for different reasons. And that one song by The

Beatles now carries different meanings

 

-And yes, I remember, I remember now. I just gave it a listen-

 

And just like that, I’m taken back

To whiskey lips and cigarettes

Years and years gone by

Couple hundred miles apart

And here I come to find

I have that old piece of your heart.

  • Author: HannahElisabeth (Offline Offline)
  • Published: September 14th, 2021 12:09
  • Comment from author about the poem: More of a short story/poem. Funny how one phone call and a song can take you right back like it was yesterday.
  • Category: Unclassified
  • Views: 30
  • Users favorite of this poem: Heart of Babel, Coyote, L. B. Mek
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Comments +

Comments5

  • BusyB

    Very clever!

  • Fozzy

    Love that

    • HannahElisabeth

      Thank you for reading 🙂

    • Doggerel Dave

      The geography of one of your relationships well scanned, Hannah.
      I speculate that everyone caries pieces of past relationships within them – hopefully positive pieces; yours sound positive, learnt from and definitely not bitter. A well textured story I enjoyed.

      • HannahElisabeth

        Oh most definitely a positive piece, despite the slightly negative title. I'm glad you enjoyed my little walk down memory lane with me

        • Doggerel Dave

          I definitely need the exercise in lockdown. I can look forward to regular little walks, I hope....

          • HannahElisabeth

            It blows my mind other parts of the world are still going through lockdown... meanwhile in Georgia...

            Guess I'll have too keep up being creative haha

            • Doggerel Dave

              It's no use promoting Georgia as a tourist destination, Hannah - I don't think it comes within my 5km radius of permitted travel.

              Do stay and be creative; 'times they are a changin' it seems here at MPS with quite a few oldsters creeping away and an influx of newbies popping in (for a time - or just passing through?) I'm not averse to change, but this feels quite rapid.

              • HannahElisabeth

                I would not recommend Georgia as a tourist destination to my worst enemy if I had one...

                I noticed a lot of new members popping up, I know I'm relatively new but sometimes I wonder what their goal is here... It does indeed feel rapid

                • Doggerel Dave

                  Georgia? Hush -Yer never know who's watching...... Nice to know you haven't any enemies - so far......

                  'Feels like they are just racing through to the next whiskey bar ('sorry Mr Brecht) to the next poetry site...

                • Coyote

                  This is a wonderful poem Hannah. Hauntingly beautiful and poetically moving. Love the reference to the Beatle's and the Old Typewriter 🙂

                  • HannahElisabeth

                    Thank you friend! Nice to see you back around!

                  • L. B. Mek

                    reads like words
                    being whispered to our ears, intensely private
                    love the drink theme, linking
                    as metaphor and anchor, for your poem
                    reminds me of an old post
                    I shared, titled
                    'Saudade in a savoured cup'..
                    (thanks for sharing, dear Poet
                    such a great read)



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