Starting Forever
by Odin Roark

To be forever looking forward
the windshield spotless clean,
a mind yielding never
to the rear view mirror.

Oh, how the norm
loves to label such
as denial,
as running away,
as guilt looking for a rock
to hide under.

How wrong.

How wrong.

We who know what’s behind us,
knows dragging such images at our bumper
is to create rear-end collision.

Who in optimistic mode
would want such an experience?

There are some of us,
you know who we are,
the you,
the me,
deniers not,
but students,
knowing what others try so very hard
to coerce us into acquiescence,
to accept all the regretful weight possible
to our already heavy baggage,
to become a sealed container,
labeled “The Past”
to become our own anchor others would use
to sink us down to a sub-level of cognizance.

But some of us have a simple retort--
an Oxford dictionary embraced phrase:
FUCK YOU.