Two Poets

Poet 1:

“I wanted to be there

I wanted to act right

I wanted to be on a white horse

And I wanted to be the knight

I wanted to cause a small smile that showed up when I wasn’t around

And I wanted you to receive a love that was easily found

I wanted it unearned, un-asked for, unprovoked

But when it came time to sing I looked out and I choked

What I wanted was not given

What I had hoped was not shown

What I wanted was apparent to you, to you I made it known

I made it known with my words and for that it’s on me

That what I really wanted was only ever heard

and not seen”

Poet 2:

“You gave me the world

I gave you my heart

You showed me a maze and I ran through each part

With wondering eyes and a hopeful spirit

I held your hand in this place having no reason to fear it

The affirmation of a caring person

With nothing needed to win

This was what I saw from the world I thought I was in

It was near-perfect, endearing, and with intricate design

It was everything I dreamed of and it was all completely mine

But when I looked in closer

I saw the stickers fall

I inspected the seams and the cracks in the wall

The world you gave me was beautiful

it’s certain and it’s true

But it was a cardboard palace where the birds never flew

It was like a 3D movie seen through rose colored glasses

Afraid of realization I pushed delusion by the masses

But when it rains cardboard melts and the paint fades away

The actors in my gifted world had no roles left to play

So with a bitter sorrow I said goodbye to my paper birds

Gave one final glance to my crumbled world

That was built only of words.”

Epilogue:

Two poets to write and neither to read

An outsiders perspective puts both in the lead

Seeing one you feel and the next you feel more

Go back and read the first the emotions grow and endure

Sympathy is strong

More than is given credit

Each side is stronger the more you have read it

You can pick a side but you must feel for both

That’s the strength of the words and the point of what they wrote

Compassion kills reason and common sense is put to death

When you only see one side or hear shaking in their breath

But there is always more and there is always a “why”

Maybe the side you found isn’t the “good guy”

While not always happy, and not always forgiven

Seeing both perspectives is gift to be given

A rare, almost never seen art, that is truer than air

When both views and both stories are written and compared