I Just Want This Day to be Over
To put my life on hold
is to also savor it
What I try to avoid
becomes all the more present
Time passes slowly
when we play dead vicariously
Like a backfire kick
from a over-watched clock
I mark the minutes
like a mantra
for a countdown
to the future
I measure words
by the weight
of today’s complaints
And save the ones
that can imagine
tomorrow’s gains
____Colleen Redman / Poet’s United / Imaginary Garden with Real Toads
February 21st, 2016 5:43 pm
Oh .. some days seem like they last forever… especially those filled with dread… Love the image of the over-watched clock.
February 21st, 2016 5:57 pm
I especially like “I mark the minutes like a mantra.”
February 21st, 2016 6:37 pm
Such truth in these words….’What I try to avoid
becomes all the more present’.
February 21st, 2016 7:56 pm
Indeed I think it is true that whatever we TRY to avoid becomes all the more present. If we face our ‘demons’ we get through them more easily.
February 21st, 2016 7:57 pm
Colleen, if you would visit poets at Poets United, you would receive a lot more comments. We try to have a reciprocal community……I am sure you understand. Smiles.
February 21st, 2016 8:19 pm
“Time passes slowly
when we play dead vicariously”
This is a striking, profound notion.
February 21st, 2016 8:30 pm
Like Sherry, I too liked that line: watch the minutes like a mantra. It is truly an honest statement.
February 21st, 2016 9:32 pm
Putting life on hold is also to savour it.. think that completely resonates with me right now!
February 21st, 2016 11:22 pm
‘we play dead vicariously’ …. i see what you did there
February 22nd, 2016 7:27 am
very suffocating when minutes pretend to be like days ….
February 22nd, 2016 9:03 am
Twice last night I woke up with some opening lines in my head to welcome home My Beloved Sandra, but failed to get up & record them. Lost now; lost. Forever.
February 22nd, 2016 9:18 am
So many truths in here..i can empathise with much especially the title..the opening two lines for me are perfection..the ultimate dilemma..and reality
February 22nd, 2016 10:05 am
True. But I have to be alone to put life on hold. Too many interruptions in a regular life and that must be why mine just rushes by.
February 22nd, 2016 11:28 am
“when we play dead vicariously”
This line tells so many stories…
February 22nd, 2016 11:37 am
Thanks for your comment in my blog, Colleen. Truly I think this is the first time I have ever had you comment.
February 22nd, 2016 4:48 pm
Winter colds are no fun … Get well soon. However feeling low certainly inspired you to write a beautiful poem,
February 22nd, 2016 7:25 pm
This is soo touching Colleen.. I agree that sometimes life can be challenging and we wish for days to end before they even begin. Beautifully penned.
Lots of love,
Sanaa
February 22nd, 2016 9:45 pm
Sorry I had to change the last two stanzas! It such a new poem and I’ve been gone all day, busy with a medical procedure. The poem was written yesterday through the anxiety of my first colonoscopy prep! I’m tired but on the other side now.
February 23rd, 2016 12:17 pm
Liking this, Colleen, my day pretty much (we are retired people-a lot to do but ain’t doing it).
For me here, the best came last. Before starting to read I had read your header message, about comparison to the artist’s pallet. The verse then says that I should come out of the closet and start using my real name. I will think about it, Facebook made me do that (Oscar Redineck).
..
February 23rd, 2016 12:44 pm
Love a revisit to this wonderful poem
February 23rd, 2016 2:11 pm
I like the new ending 🙂
February 23rd, 2016 9:06 pm
But that backfire kick!
February 24th, 2016 12:09 am
clock watching is a bit more tolerable when you can sit in the garden and watch the sundial… ~
February 24th, 2016 11:30 am
Those last two stanzas are wise advice.
February 24th, 2016 7:11 pm
[…] 8. Time passes slowly / when we play dead vicariously / Like a backfire kick / from a over-watched clock / I mark the minutes / like a mantra / for a countdown / to the future … – More from I Just Wish This Day Was Over HERE. […]
February 26th, 2016 2:21 pm
We all have days such as this, what a world we live in!