Bleached Eyes

Can you taste my lips
while hanging on the moon?

Somewhere out there
is closer than the distance
between your addiction
and I seated at your elbow.

I have forgotten the color
of your eyes…they are bleached
by letters and images scrolling
in your palm…Once I was the light
that drew you, but now I am
a candle without a wick.

Look at me! I am real...No one
has airbrushed my skin, spliced
me into a fantasy, riddled me
with emoticons.

"One is the loneliest number
since you went away"….

©Susie Clevenger 2014



The ending to my poem is a quote from the lyrics of One written by Writer(s): Rip Slyme and Harry Nilsson.

Kerry at Real Toads challenged us with alienation...to really hear and respond. I settled into the alienation the cyber world has created. Thankfully my marriage is blessed to not suffer this electronic alienation.

Kerry Says ~ Can You Hear Me?

Comments

Susan said…
Such a feeling of being shut out by the addict. I can totally relate. Your images clarify the distance and the empty ears.
avalon said…
It could so easily happen. Especially between parent and teenaged child.Addiction is the right word.
Hannah said…
I, too, find that I'm not in the number that live that reality. You capture well the ingredients for such separation and loneliness, Susie.
Sherry Blue Sky said…
Those opening lines are a great hook, Susie......when I go out, I am astounded at people sitting beside each other, especially parents and children, each plugged into their tiny screens - no one laughing, cracking jokes, no one noticing the blossoms, the sunshine, the ripples on the water........sigh. "Once I was the light that drew you, now I am a candle without a wick." So well done.
scotthastiepoet said…
Hi Susie, I agree with Sherry - powerful opening lines, though I took this to be about about a lover, rather than a child?
Kathryn Dyche said…
I really love this Susie. Heart wrenching how electronic communication has alienated us.
Kerry O'Connor said…
This is very real commentary, Susie. I read an article recently which says couples spend more time touching their phones than they do each other. It is a huge problem, and likely to get worse in the near future.
hedgewitch said…
That first line is just exquisite, Susie,and the metaphor of the wickless candle--you get to the heart and soul of disconnect here.
Ph_ said…
ah!!! That feeling!!
You have captured it perfectly in your words!