Despite Our Efforts

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  • MayaReid
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Despite Our Efforts

I always knew that a piece of you was missing
You were always a mystery to me
I was intrigued
And before I knew it, you were inside
And then I was hooked
You’re like a drug
And I was addicted
I had you
And I wasn’t ever gonna let you go
You came to me when your world was in crisis
I held the sky up
Guided you as you moved
And was there when the world crumbled anyway
Despite my efforts
Or maybe in spite of them
But you were not harmed
I call you my Thimble
And you know that you’re my rib
But did you know
That you’re my heart, too
And since you are my heart
I try to be your ribs
Your armor
And not only your protector
But your archaeologist
You excavator as well
Digging up secrets and memories
Because
Despite your efforts
Or maybe in spite of them
Your eyes
They never lie
They’re so fluid
Almost liquid
Seems like you’re always crying inside
And that little boy you
He died inside
Taking all your innocence
Hopes
And dreams
To the grave with him
I’ve been trying
To help you
Bring him back to life
But this jungle is no place
To try to raise a child
Despite our efforts
Or maybe in spite of them
It’s a jungle out there
The jungle surrounds us
So thick
It’s everywhere
And the lions are the law
If you don’t fight the jungle
Every minute
Every second of the day
It will grow
And bury you
Turn your back to the lions
Even for a moment
And they will pounce
Knock you flat
And rip you to shreds
Ignore their laws
And they’ll eat you alive
But they’ll never get to you
And they’ll never touch the little boy again
You’ve got a panther to fend them off
To bite back when they snap at you
A panther
That will never leave your side
Who wants only to keep you
Out of the jungle
But beware even your panther
She’s been studying the lion’s ways
For far too long
Somewhere along the way
Her teeth and claws grew sharper
Her growl deeper and her eyes more vicious
Somewhere along the way
Despite her efforts
Or maybe in spite of them
Your panther became one of the lionesses.

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graceladymn commented on Despite Our Efforts

08-30-2009

Unique with a surprizing ending. For love hurts not its own, ever. So though the panther may have become a lioness she is bred to loyalty, it is the mark of the lion kingdom.

MayaReid

08/30/2009

I agree entirely: the panther-turned-lioness would never hurt the one she loves, at least, not intentionally. But she's realizing that by trying so hard to protect her loved one, she's learned how to rip him to shreds, and is afraid she might do so accidently. She might forget how sharp her claws have become, and gut him when all she was trying to do was give him a hug.

Poetry is what gets lost in translation.

Robert Frost (1875-1963) American Poet.

MayaReid’s Poems (129)

Title Comments
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These Things 3
Figures 1
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Empire State 0
Come Hell or High Water 1
Where Do We Go From Here? 2
Dispersal 0
Let Me Count the Ways 1
I am (or Kujichagulia) 2
Six Degrees of Steparation 1
My Best Friend's Wedding 0
Reflection 0
The Writing on the Walls 0
To My Mother, on Her Fortieth Birthday 2
Drunk Savior 0
Dear Son/Daughter 2
Escape Velocity 2
The Whisper 4
Rocks and Shoeboxes 1
The Day We Almost Kissed 1
Loving and Leaving 0
The String that...Saved Me? 0
The Love of My Life: Take Two 0
The Divorce 0
The Garden of Life 2
Some Things I Know 1
And One for Me? 4
Storms 2
Spider 0
Specks -2
Sorrow 0
Sonnet III 0
Sonnet II 0
Sonnet I 0
Sometimes 0
So They Told Me Society... 0
So I Heard In Class Today 0
So Far Away 0
So Beautiful 1
She Will be Missed 0
She Didn't Know 0
Running for My Life 1
Revolution Pie 0
Revision 0
Rejection 0
Questions 0
Pinnochio 0
Owl 0
Over You 1
Our Silent Stranger 0
Our Broken Possibility 0
Originality 1
One Coke with Two Straws 0
On Loan from the Universe 0
Nothing But Tomorrows 0
Not to Be 0
Not So Constructive Criticism 0
No One Knows 0
My Wish 0
My Shackles 1
My Friends 0
My Dream Truth -1
My Box 0
Mother Dearest 0
More 0
Mixed Signals 0
Maybe Crazy is Catchin' 0
Maya... 0
Loving You 0
Love 0
Losing Someone 2
Life 0
Letting Herself Love You 0
Faith 0
Kryptonite 1
Just Listen 3
It Seems Like I Can Only... 1
Incarcerated 0
If the Whole Wide World Was Up to Me 0
If Only 0
I Told You That I Loved You 0
How Did You Get Here? 1
Hoping Against Hope 0
Hold Fast to Love 0
Her Missing Soul 0
He Told Me He Was Coming 0
Half 0
Growing Up With You 0
Go Ahead and Gasp 0
Giving Thanks 0
Game. Set. Match. 0
Freedom 0
For You I Will 0
Flying from the Masquerade Ball 1
Finding the Lost You 0
Fell 0
Falling 1
Extraordinary Girl 1
Effortless 0
Dying Without You 0
Drifting Apart 1
Don't Make Me Any Promises 0
Differences 2
Did You Ever Wonder... 2
Despite Our Efforts 1
Depression 3
Defining Me 1
Deeper 1
Dear Daddy 3
Come to Me 0
Closets 3
Broken, Bruised, and Bloody 2
Breaking Through the Sky of Lies 1
Blue 3
Bloody Love 0
Birthday 1
Between 0
Be Good to Your Daughters 2
Band Aids 1
An Ode to Music 4
An Ode to Dreaming 1
Americans, the Circus Folk 4
Alone 2
A.D.D. 3
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A Love Forgotten 3
A Love Deferred 1
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