The Suitcase
The days are small
packed tightly together
not much room
for last minute changes
I don’t like cruises
I’ve never been on one
I don’t like to gamble
or get my hopes up
about an afterlife or God
I fear the waiting room
where people cough and no one talks
and there is no proof of heaven
I don’t check my bags
because the subatomic particles
that look like me
are afraid of loss
and disappearing
Poetry is my passport
a mother tongue in a universe
that’s only 4% visible
and 96% dark riddle
I can write poetry
but can’t take it with me
because science has proven
my suitcase is an illusion
filled with mostly empty space
_____________________________
Colleen Redman 12/30/2012 dVerse Poets Pub
January 1st, 2013 4:22 pm
Hence why I stopped looking to science for answers…love this piece and your place. Colleen, I cracked a smile when I read that your first published work was to Dear Abby- Happy New Year!
January 1st, 2013 4:35 pm
my suitcase is an illusion…and the 96% not visible universe….ha…true that…write poetry while you can, to leave behind…others will follow…smiles.
January 1st, 2013 4:37 pm
Oh this is deep…and a great write. Great descriptions of the being ‘afraid of loss’…and ‘96% dark riddle’ is gold. Lots of thoughts and feelings I think are so common to us all. We all have our personal beliefs, for me, that’s where faith comes in…it is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
January 1st, 2013 4:58 pm
poetry is a good passport..and it says a lot about us…even without a picture…smiles…esp. loved..
I don’t check my bags
because the subatomic particles
that look like me
are afraid of loss
and disappearing…
happy new year colleen
January 1st, 2013 6:02 pm
Fantastic piece! I adore the third stanza.
January 1st, 2013 6:23 pm
Ouch! This is such an interesting poem -we all have fears – we all have a sense of the more – you’ve grounded it in such an interesting way with the suitcase. Thanks. Have a great new year. k.
January 1st, 2013 7:48 pm
Girl…your suitcase would have to pay no fare to travel my road! LOVE this…you leave us with an incredible amount to ponder, delivered in a most clever and effective weave…yup…time to hit the road! Here’s to taking over the world in 2013 with…gasp…poetry! 🙂
January 1st, 2013 8:07 pm
How clever to talk about suitcases, reality, faith and poetry ~ I love it ~
Happy New Year ~
January 1st, 2013 8:35 pm
This is intense …keep writing …you leave the words behind.
January 2nd, 2013 7:32 am
rhythmic poem, the life of words, and our own
January 2nd, 2013 8:49 am
Happy New Year Colleen! This is an intense poem and I have read it 3 to 4 times and each time I get a different meaning.
March 18th, 2013 7:00 am
[…] it was a good sign, one about being in the moment and being real. I also read a poem called The Suitcase, about packing for that final trip when we leave this earth. Before reading it, I told the story […]