Thursday, November 16, 2006

Poetry Thursday: Hope To Die

This is something I wrote many years ago. I guess it was true then, but now its mostly a lie.

Hope to Die

Fingers crossed behind my back I swear this is the truth!
I sharpened my deceptive skills against a stone cold youth.
Trying merely to survive.
As young as four (but I’ll say five!)
If only they had heard my cries.
And so, I swear I had to lie.
Cross my heart and hope to die.
I love the thought of suicide.

by Dennis Tkon Copyright 2006

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Dennis:

I love this! It reminds me of Plath in its rhythm and rhyme - and Dean Young in its whimsy. I think what I am loving most about today's poems, yours as my favorite example, is that they are all "lies" which are so, so true.

madd said...

oh so much emotion..and I read..now it's mostly true..and so hope it is..very nice..m

twilightspider said...

There's something about this that i find really intriguing, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I think, like Poet just said, the rhythm and rhyme are really working for me, they're infectious in my brain.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Poet, Madd & TS! As for the rhythm thing, I used to write songs back in my musical days, so I was always very conscious of rhythem, time and tempo. When I started writing poetry, my tempo thing followed me. Actually, I had to struggle to get away from it and always found free-form poetry very difficult to write. I love when poems make you want to march along! Thanks for visiting ladies!!!
Dennis

Natalie said...

I'm so glad it's a lie now Dennis... thank you for sharing part of your past though.

Visual-Voice said...

yep, the beat is really good in this one, and it's whimsical, yet thought provoking too!

Anonymous said...

Wow, Dennis,
Such a sweet, young rebellious spin to this poem, the lines of prayer I remember saying every night as a child. I love the first two lines, the play of innocence & deception. Glad that loving the thought of suicide is a lie for you now! Great poem! --Robin

Catherine said...

Yes, good beat, but I am glad it's mostly a like now.

Catherine said...

Oooops, I meant "lie" not "like"

sam of the ten thousand things said...

This is an interesting play with sound against the hard edge of the theme. Thanks for posting.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for commenting everyone! The suicide part is history for sure. The tough go of it at an early age still resonates for me though. Sam, as always, I’m honored.

Anonymous said...

Very touching image of the child. Relieved to hear that it's "a lie" now.

Unknown said...

This is a very strong poem.