Loose End (poem) by John Herlihy on AuthorsDen

Loose End
by John Herlihy → (All Poetry by John Herlihy)
Sunday, December 17, 2023 Rated "G" by the Author.

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-- A Loose End -- by John Herlihy , Sometimes I feel like a frayed loose end, Just a cog in another’s wheel, abandoned. Bewildered, forgotten, in a corner thrown, A weed in someone else’s garden grown. Sometimes I feel like a mere after-thought, Struggling on, a person no longer sought. Just a loose end, expendable and frayed, Not a shiny fabric with gold threads inlaid. Sometimes I feel like a discarded coin, No longer loved, the heart to enjoin. Lying there in the gutter, doing no harm, Waiting to be picked up as a lucky charm. Sometimes I feel like an untied knot, Wishing to be bound, in a bow caught. A secret gift, in sheer silence concealed, The bow of a gift waiting to be revealed. Sometimes I feel like unraveled yarn, No longer held together, lacking charm. To be again raveled, as a flower to hold, As flower petals there in sunlight unfold. Sometimes I feel like a solitary thread, Afraid of the future, warding off dread. The thinnest of threads binding a seam, A spool of thread unraveling in a dream. Sometimes I feel like a tired has-been, All my efforts in the past, where, when. The future beckons as lure of a mirage, The faded perfume in a discarded corsage. Sometimes I feel like a forgotten memory, Locked within the secret of life’s mystery. Caught in the turmoil wherever life goes, A person in the past no one still knows. To leave a mark the whole world to inspire, To be a star in the firmament blazing in fire. Bravely walk the pathway of a grand destiny, A secret in the heart of a compelling mystery. - - - - - - Copyright © John Herlihy Saturday 11 November 2023

Reviewed by Jms Bell

Reviewed on January 18, 2024

SUCH THOUGHTS WOULD BE 'TRAGIC'...IF THEY WEREN'T SO TERRIBLY 'HUMAN'.
AND SO WE...JOURNEY ON, UPON A PATH THAT WAS SET EONS AGO, AMEN. ENJOYED IMMENSELY...LOVE, BLESSINGS AND FAITH...HIS+INSPIRATIONS

Reviewed by Richard Cederberg

Reviewed on December 20, 2023

Each of us see ourselves differently than most others do. I have always admired the one who can fearlessly and honestly expound on the ups and downs of their life. Sometimes our dreams, those that remain beneath the horizon, remain untouched by the Light until the appointed time. What is impossible with man, is always possible with God. The honesty in this beautiful confession moved me, John. All the very best. r

Reviewed by Ronald Hull

Reviewed on December 19, 2023

Your poem says a lot about you. Apparently trying to make a mark, a legacy, but feel that you haven't really been able and that much of what you lived is now lost as you age and seem to become just a part of humanity waiting to be gone.

If I could cheer74 you up I would say that your travel books, if not picked up and read today, will be part of history and in two or 300 years, a very realistic and experienced account by someone who observed and wrote a very detailed about what was going on around you during your travels in both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. No loose hands to those stories. All tied up nicely.

Ron

Reviewed by Diana Legun

Reviewed on December 17, 2023

This is a beautiful depiction of a place in a person�s life. �Write what you know� and you surely have here, John. Numerous parts of this stood out to me, firstly the exquisite line �The faded perfume in a discarded corsage.� That carries all the contents of a romantic event, or a momentous celebration had by someone, and then the passing of that event, the sadness of it being �over.� �Struggling on, a person no longer sought.� That combines both courage and dismay; and for me the identity of expendability and obsoletism, which may be universal for elders in our American society, at least. This whole poem resonates with me because I am in this demographic. I love �Sometimes I feel like a forgotten memory.� This concept rings out as though I have forgotten my own memory. Enjoyed this achingly-good piece. ~~ djl