Leavings
There are scars, three of them
Where the swing set once stood.
Cut into the lawn by years
Of summer happy feet scraping the ground
To stop or – more often – to go higher.
My wife wishes I would sod or seed
Or do whatever must be done
To make the lawn whole once more.
To make the world whole once more
She would have me heal the wounds
That leavings have left.
But I am no physician, no gardener.
I am no healer of wounds.
I’ve no balm or salve.
There are scars, three of them
Where the swing set once stood.
19 comments:
This poem is relly sad and it's a great poem about memeories. I would not want to fx the lawn either and forget all the memories( metaphorically speaking).
I think that the scars aren't a bad thing in this poem. They're really the memories that have happened on that swing set. It definitetly makes someone think about being a senior. The memories that we have will stay with us forever. On the fact of being a senior teacher it's kind of like if you kept everything that we did in your room. If you never cleaned the appropriate stuff people wrote on the desks or the scuff marks people made on the floor from trying to move something. All of those things remind you of the good times you had with each senior class, and each mark is a memory in its own special way.
Even when people are gone, their memory still remains, just like the scars on the ground. And like those scars that can be erased by seeding the earth, memories can be forgotten. However, the narrator, by choosing not to seed the ground, keeps those memories alive, choosing to have the scars as reminders of those who were once there, of those happy summer feet.
After reading this poem, I remembered the items that you have hanging up on your classroom walls Mr. D (the painted T-shits, and the triangular college flags). =]
I guess my three scars would be all the pictures I have with my friends and classmates. Although I wish my laptop hadn’t died and taken many of my earlier pictures with it, I still have many happy memories of those times.
Literally, you should fix your lawn, you decrease your neighbors property value when your stuff looks awful.
Metaphorically, it is nice to remember people who are gone, but you can't let missing them hurt you as bad as the author is making it hurt him. He reminds me a bit of Hamlet.
Let your memories make you happy, like Mariana said, don't let your past be painful.
The three scars where the swing set stood...where the narrators children used to play, I assume. But now his children have grown up, and "left." I think he believes that without the constant reminders of those good times, that he won't remember those memories at all.
Similarly, Mr.D, you've seen us hide and dodge you as freshman, and grow some balls to talk to you as we grew though our high school years. Now you have us as students. You know our faults in English, you know our trials as teenagers.
Maybe, like the others who have posted, there are physical reminders in your room of us. Maybe we've left some scars on you. Maybe you've left some scars on us.
However, Mr.D, you are a physician, a healer, a balm and a salve. Going further...farther than your requirements, you take time to listen to our gripes and complaints. You offer advice, and a listening ear.
That's all I got.
I must say I completely agree with Nina.
You ladies are very kind - at least I think so ("Maybe you've left some scars on us."). But I am curious, the poem offers the perspective of one who has been left. Now that you've come to the end of a 13 year road, how does it feel for you folks to be the ones who are leaving?
I think that to the people who we leave behind after graduation, this is a bitter sweet time. I hate to use such a common cliche, but it seems to be the only way to describe it. The teachers and younger students are excited to see us going on to college and other big things, but it seems like a lot of people will miss us as well (or at least I hope they will miss us). Last year, a large number of my friends graduated, and I was happy for them, but this year was very lonely and I missed them all. This is all a part of life though. I have seen all of them since then, and I know I'll come back to visit all of my friends and teachers.
Mr. D, you definitely have, for all of us.
It feels good. I've learned from the thirteen years and personally, I am so excited to be leaving. I know I'll miss my friends and my family, but I also know that they'll be here when I come home for breaks or whatever. I'll miss our small school, but I'm so just pumped to be moving on and really getting close to the real world- as much as it may beat me down. I'm down right thrilled for college.
This poem is kind of depressing..there are scars on the ground, probably from the narrator's children, and he won't get rid of them by growing grass over them, or get rid of the swing set, because he wants to be able to look out at the swing set and remember his children playing there. I felt the mood of the poem though; it's sad to think of people you love leaving you, and the memories can leave scars, too. Looking back on precious memories can make deeper cuts though, making scars worse. Obviously this is metaphorical, but everyone knows the feeling of thinking of precious memories and feeling sad. Almost like a punch in the stomach or a stomach ache..maybe this is how the narrator feels, but something like pain is a reminder of the sweet memories you had with someone. If you have to miss something, it must have been important to you.
Its exciting yet a part of me will miss these "scars." This poem is similar to our prom song "tattoos on this town." A small school setting, to me, is perfect. Its a good feeling knowing that the younger kids can look up to you. That's why leaving after 13 years is sad. However, I'm ready to move on a start the next chapter of my life.
Although I’m a little scared, in a way, I’m excited to be graduating because of all of the new experiences and people we’ll meet in college. However, I’m also sad because I feel that Mechanicville High School became my home. I feel that the people I met here at Mechanicville became my extended family (some teachers becoming something like my crazy, eccentric, but cool aunts and uncles), and being in this kind of atmosphere while learning is something that I’ll really miss as I go on to college.
And Mr. D, don’t worry, it might take me a while but I won’t forget to hook a brother up with a job once I’m settled in my career. =]
You were right; it is so sad.
It is sad Deanna, but at the same time it is a very happy time. Something of a paradox I suppose. And here's a little secret ... I wrote the poem.
You wrote that? Is it about your kids, us, or imagining your kids in our position? Either way, I am deeply touched that you wanted us to see that.
I thought it would be hard to take this blog out of my favorites at the end of the year, but I might just leave it in there now.
I know I am late on commenting on the blog, but this peom makes me sad. There is going to be scares that can never be fixed from leaving Mechanicville. I love all my friends here and am going to miss the closness of the community. We all really know how to pull together when one or many is in need. So being a high school student at Mechanicville has been a gift and I won't think any less of it. The time is passed and there will always be that emty spot that can't fully be filled.
I think everyone has a similar idea, all looking forward to what is coming, and all having the comfort of a place to fall back on. It is great to know there is a community behind us with a hundred percent support and it's nice to see everyone knows that. (Ignore any spelling errors, my comp is glitching lol)
We need a new blog post, just for shits and giggles.
:P
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