The Impracticality of Duct Tape


Here I stand a silhouette
flirting with life in the pull
of a window shade.

Holed up in this broken heart
I try to duct tape on a happy face,
but glue won’t stick to tears.

He was mine and now he isn’t.
I can’t change the verbs trailing
through my thoughts along with mistakes.

Get busy living, or get busy dying.
That’s the black and white of it.
Do I want to smell the roses or lie beneath them?

My violets do better when I water them…..
The stars still hang with the moon….
I can let go of pain and be me again….



©Susie Clevenger 2013

Izy at Real Toads has us quoting movie lines and growing poetry from them. 
"Get busy living, or get busy dying" - Morgan Freeman - "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994).  Out Of Standard With Izy




Comments

Kay L. Davies said…
Even though I didn't see The Shawshank Redemption, I knew those words were your choice of movie quote, Susie, despite the way you worked them seamlessly into a poem on a different subject.
Well done!
K
July 17, 2013 at 5:30 PM
Anonymous said…
Men know as well as they know themselves that duct tape is the most practical thing there is, and we can't be faulted if we put it to impractical uses. This is a clever take and clever usage of the whole idea of duct tape and what it evokes and implies, and it's well built to boot, with no duct tape or even spackle required.
July 17, 2013 at 7:23 PM
Maude Lynn said…
Brilliant job with that line! Excellent write, Susie.
July 17, 2013 at 7:53 PM
Unknown said…
A favourite line also well done!!
July 17, 2013 at 8:17 PM
Isadora Gruye said…
LOL at Kortas. This is fine work here, Susie. I like the line you chose and how you embedded it into your narrators world view! Viva la
July 17, 2013 at 8:56 PM
Ben Ditty said…
"but glue won't stick to tears"

This line really hit home, Susie.
July 17, 2013 at 10:29 PM
Sharp Little Pencil said…
Susie, this was so true... glue not sticking to tears, despite the effort to paste on the happy face. Your quote from Shawshank was well used, and your expansion on it, about watering the flowers vs. being under them? Yeah, girl, tell it!! Amy
July 18, 2013 at 1:00 AM
Anonymous said…
Great job and a great movie )
July 18, 2013 at 4:17 AM
Lolamouse said…
What a great movie! I love that line. You've incorporated it brilliantly into a heartfelt poem.
July 18, 2013 at 9:58 AM
Kerry O'Connor said…
What a great line from a movie I'll never forget. (My fave line is the one about crawling through miles of shit and coming out clean)

You certainly used the line in a whole new context - and your poem must resonate with any reader who has been there.
July 18, 2013 at 12:30 PM
Ella said…
I am a huge fan of this movie and was surprised it is a Stephen King film~ Bravo!
I love so many elements-all so touching. You remind us to keep on living! (I am going to read it again) ;D
July 18, 2013 at 10:13 PM
Anonymous said…
Oh wow Lisa this is stunning and heartbreaking and vulnerable and just wow
July 19, 2013 at 4:52 AM
Anonymous said…
Ugh Susie sorry about the name, my brain is still not awake
July 19, 2013 at 4:53 AM
Marian said…
oooh, well done, Susie from start to finish, and all the duct-taped parts between. i gotta thing for duct tape.
July 19, 2013 at 1:23 PM
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