The Other Side of the Tracks
They laughed at him;
the staggering old man
wearing the stench of life
struggling to drag his
overflowing suitcase
to the other side of the street.
He bellowed
a loud grunt of frustration
as he gave a hard jerk to
dislodge his suitcase
from the death grip
of the tracks.
As we crossed paths
I didn’t laugh,
make eye contact,
look up,
nor verbally acknowledge
his existence
out of fear it would expose
my own issues that
I drag like shackles.
But I did ponder…
“How does anyone ever move forward,
carrying so much of yesterday’s baggage?”
Posted on July 2, 2012, in Poetry and tagged Baggage, Future, Past, Secrets, tomorrow. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments.
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Beautiful, deep poetry, Sean.
Thank you for such kind words Karishma. You are truly appreciated.
Many write so good or so bad about others. They forget to look into their own mysteries!
Very true Sarah. On a personal level, I have learned much about myself by what I have learned through others experiences.
I liked the subtlety and yet undeniable power of the imagery used, making this more an eloquent commentary than a poem.
And your boldfaced lines reminded me of the song Bag Lady by Erykah Badu.
Thank you for the kind words Iris; the piece was inspired by a real life situation that happened over the weekend. So yes, it definitely was intended to be a poetic commentary. 🙂
Don’t carry yesterday’s baggage!!