Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Poetry Corner

February 10, 2012

About a week or so ago I thought of a song that I love and hadn’t thought of in years. This song would have been a good title for a blog – I Am A Rock. My blog especially since I have lived much of the emotion of those words. I suspect many people have. It’s a great song by Simon and Garfunkel and the words ring true for just about everybody at some point in their lives. I hadn’t thought of it in a long time, until a friendship started wavering, and then it came back to me. I looked it up, found a video on You Tube, and a comment there mentioned that this was really poetry set to music and that is very true! Actually, there are other songs like this – poetry set to music – but I hadn’t really thought of it before. Okay, let’s go through this bit by bit because I think it’s worth talking about.

A winter’s day
In a deep and dark December
I am alone
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock
I am an island

Winter, December, snow – this probably takes place in winter, but also there is more going on since it’s also “deep and dark” and not just outside. The snow is called a shroud and maybe he feels that he is more alive than those outside are because being with others only causes pain and if you are out there, you open yourselves up to a kind of death. Inside, it – the pain – cannot touch you – a rock, an island.

I’ve built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship – friendship causes pain
Its laughter and its loving I disdain
I am a rock
I am an island

Ever done that – built walls around yourself? You get hurt over and over and pretty soon you withdraw and stop putting yourself out there because you can’t take getting hurt again. That’s when the walls go up and you just don’t open yourself up to people anymore. And disdain is a strong word – it means a feeling of contempt – friendship is something the writer doesn’t even want to go near. Even the song is sung with strong feelings so you really understand the depth of what the writer is going through…and sympathize.

Don’t talk of love
But I’ve heard the word before
It’s sleeping in my memory
I won’t disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
If I never loved I never would have cried
I am a rock
I am an island

Here we see the writer having gone through either a romantic breakup or even a friend or family member who may have died. There is pain in loving someone – sometimes a lot of pain – and when we love someone (whether it is romantic or friendship or even family) we really open ourselves up to that pain. So to avoid that pain we close ourselves off from our feelings and others – we’re not going to open those wounds up by falling in love or allowing ourselves to love or be loved again.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock
I am an island

Yep, we find ways to keep busy or to hide or withdraw so we don’t have to go out into the world and engage with other people. The writer has books and his writing as his shield and armor to hide behind so that they don’t have to talk with or be around other people. Today it’s tech stuff and tv that people hide behind to block out their feelings or the world or whatever is hurting them. The writer’s bedroom becomes his womb – the safest place we come from where you are alone and sheltered and relatively safe. I touch no one and no one touches me – either physically or emotionally – you are removed from the world.

And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

You would think you feel no pain and not cry if you don’t let other people in your life, and maybe after many many years you do get to be this way. However, the reality is, you DO cry and you DO feel pain because loneliness is that way however you arrive at it. These are my favorite lines of the whole song because it’s the reason why the writer has cut himself off from everyone – the pain is so hard to live through. And sometimes you don’t think you will live through it. Most of us do however, although it may take a long time.

So, read through, check the song out and see what you think of this poetry set to music. For me, I’ll probably go to Amazon and download it :-). Enjoy!

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» Poetry Corner » Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

Poetry Corner

February 10, 2012

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