"Marooned"

Kaleigh's poem "Here's To You" reminded me of a piece that I wrote last summer called "Marooned." I have always been the mediator of my family, even before my parents got divorced. Most of the time I like being the person that others come to for advice.  I pride myself in being able to cut through the petty bullshit and efficiently solve a problem. But sometimes there are so many layers of worry to an issue that I become exhausted as the mediator. Things that seem so simple to me, never seem as simple to many others in my family.

I wrote "Marooned" for the same reason actually that Kaleigh wrote "Here's To You." I too was frustrated by the unwillingness of others to be compassionate, forgiving and supportive of her. "Marooned" is actually in the chapter called Cautionary Tales and Distress within my poem book In Pursuit of Peacocks. It is very much a cautionary poem to parents that if you choose not to listen to your child and choose only to judge them on their past, you could eventually end up isolating yourself from their love entirely.

Marooned

Give her some relief from her heartache.

Close your lips, and let no earful escape.

She could sour, if you neglect her,

Or turn the most treasured wine of your grape.

She can appear as strong as a mare,

With will and beauty wild and unsurpassed.

But her worth is frail like an eggshell.

Your rash assumptions demolish her fast.

Quiet the defender in your head,

Who shoots guilty bullets off of your tongue.

You can punch the wounds she created,

Or relate to the frustrated and young.

Forget the failed love and shameful facts.

Unstrap the debt of pain from yesterday;

Embrace your child through words and body;

Convince her that you and she are okay.

Be the sun and stars to light her course,

Blow words of championship in her sails.

Let her rest in your tranquil ocean.

Keep her afloat in successes or fails.

Practice healing with a song of peace,

That only the angels above can teach.

Abandon this aim for perfection,

Or forever have her love out of reach.