Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Curveball


It began much like
 a friendly game of catch,
with witty one-liners
 thrown to and fro,
each one smarter than
the one before, lingering
 much longer in the air, 
so as to share in its flirty,
 intellectual amusement.

 

 Before long, 
a ping pong pace of
 opposing beliefs were
shot across the speakers' floor, 
and some, too discordant to ignore, 
provoked a cacophony amid the 
previously harmonious rapport, 
now a wordy whirlwind of a storm
 that finally fumbled into a 
sad and hopeless silence.


Had anyone been keeping score of
 all the targeted, hurtful slurs,
the cross-fire of hostile insults hurled
in this emotionally wounding, verbal war
between two people so supposedly in love?


No glove can protect the heart
and shield the soul, when curveballs
pierce with such cruel force, so steer
clear of these catalysts that threaten
your dialogues and tête–à–têtes,
and put your catcher's mitt to rest! 

Written for Susan's Mid-week Motif:
'Conversation' at Poet's United  
 
 Thanks for visiting!
Poppy



12 comments:

  1. Good one, Poppy. Love the illustrations as well.

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  2. Poppy, it is lovely to see you! Happy you are in Toronto, yay! I hope you arent missing the beauty of Greece too much, but know it is pretty breathtaking.

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  3. Words can be cruel when used as weapons, they bite and scratch and hit below the belt to demoralize the soul.

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  4. WoooHoOoooo!!! At first I thought you were poetisizing the last presidential debate--so brilliant! And then when it was clearly those lover quarrels where button-pushing occurs and neither will ever forget, I had another WOW. You rocked it with this! baseball analogy and strict meter and all!

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  5. No glove can protect the heart
    and shield the soul, when curveballs
    pierce with such cruel force


    Such depth and wisdom in your verse. We should be mindful of the things we say so as to avoid hurting people's sentiments. Beautifully written.

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  6. A wonderful analogy here Poppy! "No glove can protect the heart and shield the soul"...how beautiful and so true.

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  7. Words can hurt so deeply, can't they? Those curveballs can definitely throw a person for a loop. So good to see you once again, Poppy. You have been missed.

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  8. You've used the images to great effect here. Good write too!

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  9. From a amusement to a cacophony and a cruel force. Conversation can be enjoying but as you so well expressed it they can be very painful as well. The power of words is great

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  10. hurting created by words is a timeless wound
    even time cannot heal it

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  11. While I love the funny sharp banter between couples in the old black and white movies from Hollywood it is astounding how quickly it can turn into something ugly in real life. Words do hurt, don't they?

    A delight to read this cautionary tale, Poppy!

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  12. Hmmm, well put! Yes, a conversation can start out well. but so often deteriorates into a slinging match where sleeping issues are awakened. As long as there is resolution and working through the differences, even the cacophony can benefit the relationship!

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Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I really appreciate hearing from all of you! Have a great day!