Poetry Friday: Antilamentation | Dorianne Laux
Antilamentation | Dorianne Laux
Regret nothing. Not the cruel novels you read
to the end just to find out who killed the cook.
Not the insipid movies that made you cry in the dark,
in spite of your intelligence, your sophistication.
Not the lover you left quivering in a hotel parking lot,
the one you beat to the punchline, the door, or the one
who left you in your red dress and shoes, the ones
that crimped your toes, don’t regret those.
Not the nights you called god names and cursed
your mother, sunk like a dog in the livingroom couch,
chewing your nails and crushed by loneliness.
You were meant to inhale those smoky nights
over a bottle of flat beer, to sweep stuck onion rings
across the dirty restaurant floor, to wear the frayed
coat with its loose buttons, its pockets full of struck matches.
You’ve walked those streets a thousand times and still
you end up here. Regret none of it, not one
of the wasted days you wanted to know nothing,
when the lights from the carnival rides
were the only stars you believed in, loving them
for their uselessness, not wanting to be saved.
You’ve traveled this far on the back of every mistake,
ridden in dark-eyed and morose but calm as a house
after the TV set has been pitched out the upstairs
window. Harmless as a broken ax. Emptied
of expectation. Relax. Don’t bother remembering
any of it. Let’s stop here, under the lit sign
on the corner, and watch all the people walk by.
Comments (4)
Stephanie @ AthleteAtHeart.com
January 6, 2012 at 4:50 pm
I love your Poetry Friday segments. The words so often speak to my heart in a way that I need at that moment. You are certainly a place of light in a world too often dark. Thank you.
Can I ask, where do you find such wonderful poems?
Dena Botbyl
January 6, 2012 at 5:58 pm
I am so happy to hear this, Stephanie. Poetry means so much to me. I have been writing/reading/collecting poems since I was in the 1st grade. Most of the poems are favourites that I have gathered over my lifetime.
My favourite place to find new poems/poets is http://theysaid.livejournal.com/. Check it out.
I will be releasing my first e-book of poems in the coming months. <3
Andra Watkins
January 6, 2012 at 9:05 pm
The poetry you select always speaks to me, Dena.
Clare Bear
January 7, 2012 at 12:10 am
This one gave me goosebumps!