I Don’t Have
I don’t have the balm of little children
I don’t have an island to go to
I can’t hunt or lift heavy loads
I won’t drive on I-95
I don’t have a garden that doesn’t die
that isn’t choked out by weeds
at the end of every season
I don’t have a brown paper bag or a locker
I don’t have a mother or father
I don’t have a pen
that writes in many colors
I can’t change a tire or fish
I count on my fingers
and watch the nightly news
I watch falling stars
but don’t wish for what isn’t
I don’t have a lock that is foolproof
I don’t have a good sense of direction
I don’t want a lawn to take care of
I don’t have a neat tied up ending
I don’t want advice
or the latest remedy
I don’t want to live
someone else’s life
I don’t like the sound
of water flooding
or a faucet dripping
like thoughtless talk
Do you mind if I don’t tell you
what you don’t want to hear?
You spend time
then don’t have any
I don’t have a platitude
or a rehearsed answer
I don’t want a finish line
or to start over
I don’t want the lights
left on all night
___________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United / dVerse Poets Pub
September 12th, 2021 12:41 am
Some days, I wish I could take your 8th stanza and send it to a bunch of people. I know people mean well, but someone else tells me how I could be doing better or how this or that remedy will heal me if I just try it… I might have to scream.
There is something about the tone in this one that translates a mixture of frustration and all rightness all at once.
September 12th, 2021 12:45 am
An interesting and varied list! Some of those things I don’t have either – and several I wouldn’t want to. I suspect it is the same for the speaker of your poem.
September 12th, 2021 3:11 am
Yes, this is so true. We all need to declutter at times!
September 12th, 2021 9:56 am
A thought-provoking list of don’t haves. I can relate to some, especially those I wouldn’t want too.
September 12th, 2021 11:15 am
Interesting list poem. There are some i can relate to, like a faucet dripping. or the entire 8th stanza. 🙂
September 13th, 2021 11:58 am
You sound like someone who does not have a problem with lock down:)
September 13th, 2021 1:12 pm
Or maybe lock-down is the problem!
September 13th, 2021 1:30 pm
“I don’t want to live someone else’s life” sums it all up nicely.
September 13th, 2021 3:13 pm
An honest appraisal of our own limits is helpful to have in this time of chaos. Making sure we honor what we can and can’t do is a form of self-care.
September 14th, 2021 2:49 pm
I love the simplicity of this, and the down-to-earth message it brings. What a gentle self-assessment!
September 14th, 2021 7:38 pm
This is a stunning write … stunning!
September 15th, 2021 8:24 pm
A wonderful contraction of being. What do you need beside the stars anyway. Terrific!
September 16th, 2021 3:56 pm
Ah Colleen, you had ne here for the get go – with ‘the balm of little children’ and kept me all the way, as I rushed through this expecting a – but… That said you still ended the piece very well – probably more cleverly and rewardingly still – if I’m honest. Always a joy to read your stuff…
September 16th, 2021 8:06 pm
My goodness this is good! I especially resonate with; “I don’t want advice or the latest remedy/I don’t want to live someone else’s life.” ??
September 16th, 2021 9:09 pm
This poems tells us you are just you and that Cooleen is just wonderful. So many of us are not happy being who we are.
Much?love
September 17th, 2021 10:08 am
This poem reminds me of Nina’ Simone’s song ‘Ain’t Got No’ (I got life). The sentiment is very similar, and I really enjoyed your imagery. ‘You spend time/then don’t have any’ so best spend it well!
September 17th, 2021 10:27 am
You have used the negative so cleverly here to etch out truth and reality more clearly than could any statement of fact. So many piercingly good lines–I really, really enjoyed the intelligence and heart in this poem. We are stronger knowing what is not.
September 17th, 2021 11:13 am
I like this. I want to sit with it a while.
September 17th, 2021 4:39 pm
Sounds like you know what you want when you ruled out all the don’ts. I don’t want to live someone else’s life. I just want to live and enjoy mine.
September 19th, 2021 7:44 am
You speak for so many of us!
September 19th, 2021 10:44 am
So many things we don’t have but that seems to be mandatory… but the penultimate stanza really summarizes it all.