Cause for Reflection

Poem by: Michael Cleary

Reads: 21 | Likes: 1 | Shelves: 0 | Comments: 2

Too late I fear today,

the rearview mirror is full of wreckage,

I should’ve looked more closely out the windshield,

now I am haunted by what’s behind me.

What profit is there in thinking backward?

Might have done? Might have said? Might have understood?

Will it correct what has happened?

Or only be a teacher for the future?

Looking behind me I see a time I wish I could unwind,

and ahead I only see fresh new mistakes to make.

In the reflection I see two failures,

The damage I have caused and my own stupid face.

Do the langoliers exist for real?

Will they devour the discarded minutes of the day?

Maybe they swallow those gone moments,

but they eat around the pain like poison.

That damn mirror with its silver slime,

It reveals what is back there like a bastard,

I can smash it with my knuckles

and a shattered bloody image remains.

Submitted: February 17, 2025

Poetry reflection life thought

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KateWrites

I believe there's a lot of power, sense and wisdom to look back on the past and learn from it. Doesn't usually serve us too well to fixate on the past, although that can be a difficult habit to break.

This is a very reflective piece with a nice balance between the 1st person perspective with thoughts on the incident itself then balances out with more of a general, philosophical.view before returning to that 1st person direct perspective with that frustrated aggression at the end. Nice work.

Mon, February 17th, 2025 5:46pm

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I once heard someone say that the reason the windshield is so big and rearview mirror is so small is because we need to see more of what's ahead rather than behind. Most people will agree that there is no future in constantly cursing the past.

Tue, February 18th, 2025 5:09am

KateWrites

Definitely not a lot of good things come from cursing the past, but certainly there is much that can be learned from it - even if it's simply to say "Sheesh, I had better not do that again"... mind you, still difficult not to repeat past mistakes at times...

Wed, February 19th, 2025 5:52pm