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A Farewell to Smooth
If you knew it...a poem for Smooth Challenge.
The world you loved is gone
The gentle smoothness
Emotional warmth and softness
The smoothness and kindness
You loved and cherished
Have been replaced
With sharp, rough edges
That pierce, cut and maim
Farewell to the smooth
You remembered
When you were young
The smooth of the freshly laundered linen
The smooth sound of a loving voice, reading bedtime stories
Lulling you off to sleep
The smooth of the kisses on your forehead
For some
They never knew the joy of the smooth
Their life
Almost exclusively
Revolves around
anything but smoothness
Hard love, tough love
Abusive control, bullying, violence and hate
Pain, suffering, harsh linen, no linen
No smooth spoken bedtime stories
No smooth lipped kisses on the forehead
Say farewell to the smooth
and welcome the abrasive reality of life
For if you knew the smooth
You experienced something others
So rarely do
*
Thanks for reading!
About the Creator
Paul Stewart
Scottish-Italian poet/writer from Glasgow.
Overflowing in English language torture and word abuse.
"Every man has a sane spot somewhere" R.L Stevenson
The Accidental Poet - Poetry Collection is now available!
https://paulspoeticprints.etsy.com
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Comments (14)
I remember this fine piece now. THE Like didn’t come up at first, so I read it again lol.
oh my, this got me to the core.. Yeah, reality is a tough check on our resilience skills sometimes. I loved thi poem! Well done!
Abrasion is how we know we are really here 😁
Welcome to the abrasive reality of life. That hit me so hard. Loved your poem Sir Paul! 🍩🥐
Well-done! I really enjoyed this entry! 🩵
I ran the Angel Tree project for almost a decade at my last appointment. After families had come to pick up their presents, we had a rummage area in the basement where they could pick out whatever they wanted from donated items. One little girl came up & asked us if she could have a set of sheets that had been donated. When we told her yes, she responded, "It's the first time I will ever have had sheets on my bed." If she had been the only one we had served that day, we still would have known why we were there.
Perhaps those of us that were introduced to the realities at an early age were the fortunate ones? A thought-provoking take on the challenge, Sir!
Wow, once again we seem to be on the same wavelength for this challenge. I’ve had multiple ideas brewing for it, though I’m only writing for NaNoWriMo at the moment, and getting started on the Arid challenge soon. But my poem is kinda the reverse of this, talking about how my abrasive upbringing polished me. I think the people constantly looking to the past with nostalgia and lamenting the loss of their youth are the most weak and miserable people alive. I’d never want to trade places with them. I don’t think that was the intention of your poem—it seems like you’re saying they’re lucky to have experienced what many never will. So that’s where we disagree, because I think people who create their own luck after going through hell are the most fortunate. Those who have a dreamy beginning are in for a rude awakening they aren’t at all prepared for. Emotionally, they’re still coddled children, even if they have a career and a mortgage. But it’s never too late to grow up… until it is. Still, I love your stance here of being grateful for what we’ve had. Gratitude is so important. 🤍
Wonderful job. Nicely done.
Well that's a perky little number...
Sadly true… so many today haven’t experienced the gentle smoothness of love… those of us who have, should try to shine its light on those who cross our path.
love your poem, Paul
Life can be unsmooth (made this word up) but where there is love and tenderness you will feel smooth . We sometimes have to create it ourselves for the domino affect and for the good vibration 🙂🧘🏽♀️😊
Yo!! Indeed! Yet even those that appeared to have had that ..well, many at least will have had more going on beneath the surface that was far from perfect. Because no place or family is perfect, right? Regardless interesting slant! And that idea of linen, what that represents and the smell of it is really effective. ☺️ Just letting you know there is a small accidental typo six line. 😊