Sugarland

While I was working on the Poem a Day project, I started writing a series of poems based on the songs of Sugarland (one of which has been posted here.)
I've decided to continue that. So keep an eye out for Sugarland poems to come.

I'm also working on recording myself performing Slam poems and will post those soon  - hopefully.

But for now here's this, a narrative poem that I am quite proud of:

The Lover, the Mother, and the Unscrupulous Brother

An ode to my lover, a note from my


mother, a lesson for my most unscrupulous

brother. Time may be patient and seem to

be kind, but healing my wounds takes a lot

more than words.



Dear you broke my dear heart when

I gave it to you and you turned from my

love and betrayed with my blood all the faith

that I had in our piece of forever.

You should have held loyal to tight binding chains

of the promises woven from your lips

to mine. But instead you chose him for your

arrows from Cupid and mine were torn out

leaving holes bleeding faith in a river

that leads to the circles of hell. If only

you had such a mind that could grasp all the

pain brought from words that he spewed

on the night when he wood you away.

Perhaps that would lend you the wisdom to

see that your wounds on my soul run as deep

as the sea and because I can’t swim I

am breathing in water and swallowing death.



Woman who raised me then tore down again

all my dreams and my hopes for a life free

of pain. I’m sure you will find if your life

keeps its grip on its sanity happily

wading through memories, never has

anyone loved you like me. The curse of

Penelope settled inside of your

once tender heart but instead of her faith

in the spirit of he who you claim to

have loved you ignored the years past and you

cast off your grief like a rain sodden hat.

Then you wrote to your son and told him to

chase love and I lost my whole life to your

payment for all of the time that I spent

pouring tears down the drain in my sorrow

for he who deserted the vows that he

made on the day when he pledged you his life.



My man, my friend, we once were so close but

now we have nothing but years in between

us and just like the rest of our hate-ridden

clan what’s left of our blood bond will soon start

to fade. I’d found what I wanted a woman

I loved and could smell my own happiness

settling upon me like snow on the ground

in the winter which leads happy bears with

full bellies to drift off to bliss as they

sleep finding true rest for months at a time.

But then you came along with your heat and

your light and you melted the snow so my

world was soggy and suddenly fraught

with the trappings of frescoes unfinished

so angels lack halos which renders them

men. Here’s the cost of your pride: you are now

like your mother and brother abandoned.



I need to move on and be done with this

life in order to grieve and start over

again. So call this farewell you won’t see

me again. I’m leaving right now and just

like all our love I’ll fade into the dusk.

by Julian Legere