Saturday, July 24, 2021

Treading Plastic

 


"Hello (Hello)
I'll tell you all the people I know (I know)
Sell you somethin' that you already own (You own)
I can be whoever you want me to be"
Plastic Hearts ~ Miley Cyrus


I feel at arm’s length,

close enough to see,

but far enough away

to not be smothered in plastic.

 

On the dance floor where

everyone calls me baby

I laugh and turn, step and misstep

to shrill notes of she’s the

life of the party.

 

In the glitter of bedazzled blind spots

I can appear to be what I’m not so the shallow

can swim without a lifeguard.


 ©Susie Clevenger 2021

The Sunday Muse #170

15 comments:

  1. Ah, how many struggle to appear to be what they're not to please the shallow. Wasted time and broken dreams.

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  2. As another Texan once sang, drown me in the shallow water, before I get too deep.

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  3. "I feel at arm’s length" - yep.

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  4. When I get tired of swimming in the deep water I switch to swimming on my back. I once hurt my toe, bad, swimming in the shallow. :)
    ..

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  5. I really enjoyed this one especially
    "On the dance floor where

    everyone calls me baby"

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  6. No way of telling how deep a dive can be, away from dance floor buoyancy....

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  7. So many deep lines in this Susie! I love it!!

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  8. The struggle to avoid the plastic patina they want to pour over us, to maintain an open air passage through the mess, is shown eloquently here, Susie. I especially like "...I can appear to be what I’m not so the shallow/can swim without a lifeguard."

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  9. Love that you chose Miley's music! 'I can appear to be what I am not' ~~ line that rings loud, clear, true. Well penned, Ms. Susie.

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  10. Sounds like Miley getting honest here. Good poem that speaks to the double life so many lead. For all of the glitz and glamor that celebrities cultivate I imagine it's a very lonely existence.

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  11. Luv where tge prompt took you. Happy Sunday. Thanks for dropping by to read mine

    Much💜love

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  12. This was killer Susie! I loved it, especially:“I can appear to be what I’m not so the shallow can swim without a lifeguard.”
    BTW excellent song choice! 👍

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  13. "I laugh and turn, step and misstep
    to shrill notes of she’s the
    life of the party."

    The lifeless life of the party? Without a true life of her own. Powerfully written.

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  14. A glorious poem! This combines with the music perfectly.

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