We’re up to thirty-three entries in this song-inspired series of poems! There’s a bit of a repeat of artists between this poem and the previous one, as both of the songs that inspired these poems have been by My Chemical Romance, so that’s an interesting little connection there – but we’ve moved away from the topic of memory and onto a more ‘present’ poem, so I hope you enjoy reading through this week’s entry!
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: Who Are You Remembering?, inspired by ‘The Kids From Yesterday – Dan P. Carter Remix’ by My Chemical Romance
Sit Beside Me
Logically, I know that they think
as we think, and there are moments,
at night, when they remember
every embarrassing scene, every time
they accidentally let the mask slip
and their friends raised eyebrows,
and their heart stopped, and even
at the time, they knew they would never,
ever, forget this transgression.
Logically, I know that we,
sitting here, on the top deck,
side by side–you have the window,
today–are no different inside
than them: we are all blood,
and flesh, and nerves, and bones,
and our brains all sit in skulls,
and our tongues all sit in mouths,
waiting for the chance to move.
Logically, I know there’s nothing
that separates us from them,
on an intrinsic level–but, there again,
I squeeze your hand, and feel the warmth
and see the way your face creases
as their voices get louder,
and their comments get closer
to nipping at our existence,
and I wonder.
Logically, I struggle to make sense
of it all; emotionally, I can’t help
but feel that they are a kaleidoscope–
terrifying in its unpredictable multitude
of being–and we are a shared shade,
the paint dripping from our joined hands,
as we both sit, and half-listen to crackled
music, and half-wonder who we share this world with,
and whether, even for half a second,
the kaleidoscope lands on our shade,
and they understand, for a breath, what it is
to be us–do they ever think, as we do?
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Oskar Leonard 