words keep wolves at bay

chris j cluff

[
[
[

]
]
]

re: re

[for Dixie]

i am 
skeptical of 
words that start 
with ‘re’. 
they stand 
there all 
full of 
assumptions- 
return 
remain 
recover 
repeat 
all suggestions 
that the mark 
was missed a 
first time 
or that 
there is a 
place to go 
back to 
or that I 
could have 
chosen 
otherwise. 
but what of 
the effort 
taken to get 
here? 
I just 
won’t accept 
any words 
that suggest 
a life can 
only be lived 
forwards 
by 
undoing.



2 responses

  1. Amanda Potts Avatar
    Amanda Potts

    The ending lines here- “I just/ won’t accept /any words/ that suggest/ a life can/ only be lived/ forwards/ by/ undoing.” – capture something that I want to keep thinking about. Interestingly, I almost wrote “return to” but, for maybe the first time, caught the “re” and thought “no, I want to keep going forward with this idea, not go back to it.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Chris J Cluff Avatar
      Chris J Cluff

      Some ‘re’ words still work for me. But I am digging into the ones that suggest the second time around is more envalued than being in the moment the first time. Thanks for the thoughts.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a reply to Amanda Potts Cancel reply