Week 22: On the Way Back Around

She lost something warm and dear out there
Somewhere in the movements of the planets

Too long to wait for an old hope
It’s more easily left behind and forgotten

If it’s still in orbit on the way back around
She’ll blow a kiss and wave as she shoots on by

Author’s Notes:

The idea of reencountering people or places or things that were important to you at one moment in your life is interesting because there is always a temptation to try to recreate something that is gone—to try too hard to relive the past or recreate something that is gone. I think being able to encounter the past gracefully, with joy rather than feelings of loss is admirable. But at the same time, I have some ambivalence because I think there is a version of doing this that trivializes and ornamentalizes the past in a way that is just a way of denying loss by saying it’s not that important. I’m not sure which I think that the subject of the poem is doing.

Despite my paragraph that perhaps over-explains my thoughts about it, I think this week’s poem is simpler and more accessible than last week’s, and I feel more comfortable with it, so I’m happy.

Favorite Line:
Somewhere in the movements of the planets

Saddest Line:
It’s more easily left behind and forgotten