Does anybody really care – poem by Bruce Whealton">Does anybody really care – poem by Bruce Whealton
Published April 24, 2009 | 
">Bruce WhealtonDoes anybody really care?
As a poet, sometimes I think the reason I write is because there is something in each poem that I absolutely must share with someone... Something that I want you to see, in the imagery I paint for you... It is my way of dealing with an oppressive loneliness that overwhelms me from time to time. Sure I could just tell you, write you a letter explaining my feelings... but I doubt it would be the same. If I just told you, you'd hear my words but not feel and fully understand what it is that I'm describing. It is my deepest hope that some reader (or readers) will appreciate the importance of what I am trying to convey... maybe even share with me in my feelings. It is my greatest fear that I fail in this endeavor and no one understands or appreciates what it is I am going through... and the belief, that there is someone out there that understands, is just an illusion or an empty hope.
Posted in Bruce Whealton, poetry by Bruce Whealton | 
Bruce Whealton, fear, illusion, loneliness | 
Leave a commentTo Live Forever – Poem by Bruce Whealton">To Live Forever – Poem by Bruce Whealton
Published March 13, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonI think some poets write
because of a deep anxiety
we feel about the finite
nature of our existence.
This may not be
something conscious
that we feel -
some of us -
but we may want to live forever,
in our poems
or in some way
not fade away
with no one to remember
anything at all
about us.
If this is so,
then I may be
one of those poets
and now, I’m writing
as fast as I can
these poems that I share.
I write this as a letter
“To whom it may concern,”
I turn to you my friends
family and other relations -
my readers,
and I ask you,
if anything were to happen to me,
I entrust to you
my poems -
the ones I’ve written
and the ones I will write.
If anything were to happen to me,
help me please,
to ensure,
that poems live,
on,
that should I fade away,
others will have something to say,
something about what I contributed
how I made some contribution -
some impression,
some way that I touched you
and that I lived for something.
It’s so easy for things to get lost
and then what will remain of me.
What do people say about me?
Or what will they say?
It is my greatest fear
and the source of my greatest
despair that the answer
to that can be summed up
in one word,
“Nothing.”
I think of these things
not because I think something
will happen soon to me,
but because life may not present
time or opportunity,
no matter how many years
I may go on writing.
Bruce Whealton – March 13, 2009
Space Mountain – Poem by Bruce Whealton">Space Mountain – Poem by Bruce Whealton
Published February 22, 2009 | ">Bruce WhealtonI must have been 13
when my parents
first took us to Disney World.
Disney has had a rollercoaster
called “Space Mountain.”
I had seen other rollercoaster rides
but this one is all inside a big building
and it is dark in there.
I think that made it more frightening.
So, I was in line to get on the ride
and just before I got to the end,
to that last part of the line,
I turned and left
before getting on.
I was scared of something.
Two years later,
my parents took us to Disneyworld again.
I remember looking at that line,
at Space Mountain,
that filled the inside
and stretched outside…
people waiting 45 minutes,
maybe longer…
many, many people,
every day bringing many more people
to ride this ride.
This really made me think,
challenging what I had believed.
if there was something to fear
and if this was something to avoid,
why would so many people
wait so long to ride this ride
without turning around and leaving
at the last moment?
So, I decided to ride this rollercoaster.
Waiting in line,
with my sister,
I never mentioned
being scared or nervous.
And I didn’t turn away
at the end.
The ride was intense,
exciting and scary…
People were screaming.
I think those people must feel
those same feelings
that I’ve felt,
being both scared and excited,
as we wait to get on and ride
Space Mountain…
and it is intense and scary
and we do return to ride it
again, like I did during that
trip to Disney World.
Not only do we do this
despite the fear
but I think we want to be scared;
I think this fear can be exciting(!)
and the feeling intense.
What makes more sense?
to say that we do this despite the fear
and that maybe we find being afraid
to be fun and exciting?
or to try to tell ourselves
and others
that we are not afraid?
- Bruce Whealton Feb 2009
Posted in Bruce Whealton, poem, poetry by Bruce Whealton | disney world, fear, space mountain | Leave a comment
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