Never Fade Away

[Demian]

There was not much to learn back then,
scabby, hollowed out and predestined
for a world given to me by him, not my own voice
taken, I took his world and carved it into my thigh.
Woman by woman, scraped, barred from business,
scampering away from school and learning to laugh
at his wisdom in this foolish scarring session
tattooed across my heart and BURNED UP
like a scraggly forest fire that will never fade away.


For my dad and Jack K.

[TheFifthElement]

This is an interesting poem Demian - I'm not sure I understand the significance of 'BURNED UP' being capitalised, perhaps you could explain that part.

I loved this part:


hollowed out and predestined
for a world given to me by him, not my own voice
taken, I took his world and carved it into my thigh.

I imagine a lot of people (especially teenagers) feel this way, that their role has been handed to them and they've had no say in it.

I can't say I quite understand the whole poem, you lost me with 'Woman by woman, scraped, barred from business, scampering away from school and learning to laugh' -this wasn't clear to me at all, though I can see how it fits with the tattoo theme.

[Demian]

Thank you for the input. I don't want to sound presumptious, but as Neruda said, "When you try to explain poetry, it becomes banal." I'm happy to receive your own impressions/criticisms, however.

[Granny5]

I find a lot of emotions in this, Demian. There is a special bond with a father that no one else really understands. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[ampoule]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and this may or may not be what your poem is about, but I think that our childhoods stay with us forever, the good and the bad. We make mistakes and wrong choices or sometimes we live in the shadow of other's mistakes.
I enjoyed this Demian.