Who Are You Remembering?

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but I’m back with the thirty-second entry in this series of song-inspired poems! This one was inspired by ‘The Kids From Yesterday – Dan P. Carter Mix’ by My Chemical Romance, and I’ve once again managed to get onto the topic of memory. I hope that you enjoy reading through this one!

First Poem In This Series: To Witness, To Behold, inspired by ‘Sowing The Seeds Of Love’ by Tears For Fears

Previous Poem In This Series: Faces, inspired by ‘Garamond’ by Arm’s Length

Who Are You Remembering?

His hair is a jagged pyramid,
hanging down from a head obscured
by shadows, both those of night,
and those that the mind create.

I don’t think he ever climbed
that tree, not really. I don’t
think he ever got to that branch–
I don’t think he managed to hang,
upside down, like a snapshot
from an album cover–and if he did,
I don’t think I would remember it
so clearly.

Music. I can add looping earphones,
the wires tangled almost beyond all hope,
to the silhouette. I can write down
every single song thrumming in his ears.

But even still, I am inventing;
reinventing a figure who was–
and I know this, for a fact–
too afraid to live out the daydream,
to climb the tree, to stay out
with the shadows and the stars.

Who cares? This is my brain,
and its creations are so private
as to be anonymous–maybe he climbed,
and dared to let the blood to his head.

Even if I am remembering only a version
of a version of a misremembered conversation,
it raises my head a little when I’m walking,
in the dark, on my own–because somewhere,
inside a vault with workings beyond comprehension,
a teenager is laughing, pink can in hand,
and offering an earphone to anyone who cares.

If you enjoyed this, click here to check out some of my poetry collections – free ebooks available as well as print books on Amazon!

(You can also tip me on my Ko-Fi page if you’d like to support an author!)