Burn Your Bridges and Fly Away
Poem/Lyrics by Christine Lines, © 2009-2010
She lies in darkness on her bed,
cradling her bloody little head,
scratching at scabs in her heart,
clutching the dream of flying away…
“Wake the fuck up,” screams mother
as she counts her alimony.
“Why do I take care of you?
You are the devil!” she shrieks.
One day, she thought, I’ll prove to you
My dream’ll come true: I’ll fly away…
Burn your bridges and fly away
Break your neck if you look back
Flesh does not forgive, forget
Blood alone does not atone
At the conservative hick school
the old Baptist physics teacher
stands in front of the class and howls
“The abused become abusers!”
She sat silent, nails in her flesh,
holding back swelling angry tears.
They wonder why kids shoot up schools.
What the fuck are role models for?
One day, she thought, I’ll prove to you
My dream’ll come true: I’ll fly away…
Burn your bridges and fly away
Break your neck if you look back
Flesh does not forgive, forget
Blood alone does not atone
“Why can’t you be like her,” shouts dad
as seeds of self-hate blossom inside.
“I’ll chew you up and spit you out,”
trapped in a garden of barbed wire.
One day, she thought, I’ll prove to you
My dream’ll come true: I’ll fly away…
Today is the day dreams come true;
She makes the first (last) choice of her life:
Take control once and for all —
Leap off the ledge and fly away…
Burn your bridges and fly away
Break your neck if you look back
Flesh does not forgive, forget
Blood alone does not atone
_______________________________________________________
I can’t even begin to explain the layers of extreme emotion, horrendous times, and inescapable reality I’ve woven into this. Everyone will get something different out of it — abuse, domestic violence, divorce, suicide, school shootings, oppression, depression, delusion, dreams, control, escape… the list goes on. But the one thing I hope everyone gets is we have a serious problem of hurting each other more than we care for each other. The world won’t change if we don’t start at our homes and schools and change ourselves first.
Photo © Christine Lines 2003
Writing © Christine Lines 2009-2010
700miles
adamselzer
angelzapata
Anshul
AshBardhan
Raven
bees4ever
Cassiopeia Rises
Andrew
Caribbean Fool
carmelaj
christel42
curtdiggity
dapoetsdotcom
deadpoet88
taco
franny124
Constantine
gladiuspoeticus
gnarlyoak
Heather Grace Stewart
hoiden
Jodi MacArthur
janflora
juliakneale21
Kavita
Sarah
Kim Koning @AuthorKimKoning
laurenmichelleotheim
lestismitethee
Lisa Gail Green
Annie
M.
Margo Rowder
michelecamerondrew
Geoff Munsterman
Dave
nyyankeeman2
PC
Pen Chirps
philosopherpoet
Priyanka Bhowmick
The Emotional Orphan
Sean Monaghan
rachelerosenberg
Douglas F. Mélo
Kira Josie Murphy
Robert J. W.
Robin Elizabeth
RoughWaterJohn
Carrie Clevenger
signed .............bkm
I Eat Poetry
stevepape
tadhgceitinn
taramillerwrites
California Ink in Motion
Tim Keeton
uma
woih108
wondrinsoul
Tom Woodside
ziibi1
Undead Poets Society 
wow.
Potent stuff, Gally. I like how you use an almost song-like refrain:
One day, she thought, I’ll prove to you
My dream’ll come true: I’ll fly away…
Burn your bridges and fly away
Break your neck if you look back
Flesh does not forgive, forget
Blood alone does not atone
Thx.
Yes, Gally – this is a powerful read. Perfect accompanying image, as well.
To build on Tim’s comment – I hope you don’t think I’m making light of the structure when I say that this seems like the bridge:
Today is the day dreams come true;
She makes the first (last) choice of her life:
Take control once and for all –
Leap off the ledge and fly away…
Do we have a melodicist in the house?
That stung!!!!
I sincerely we don’t have to live through any of it!
And I totally am with you on “start at home and school” bit… We humans just don’t realize how much we hurt others with our words and actions.. The spite we have accumulated within is overwhelming!! The world will only get worse if this continues… 😦 We complain about it getting worse, and yet do nothing! I hope we haven’t forgotten that we have made the world what it is now – A dump of hatred, with putrid decomp of human morals .. (sigh…)
A very powerful and precisely-worded poem!!!!
Thanks, everyone, for your kind words! I’m happy this poem was received well :3 I wasn’t sure if I should share it or not but I’m glad I did.
“A dump of hatred, with putrid decomp of human morals…” I totally agree with you, Kavita. I think much of my poetry deals with this topic, especially first-hand accounts. But I’m glad we have a shared — even sacred — space here to share these feelings and give each other feedback and support :3
Been here. Hope it’s fiction. Chilling.
Cool stuff – looking forwards to hearing it sung. I agree too – “The world won’t change if we don’t start at our homes and schools” … how come we keep increasing police numbers and cutting funding for schools?
Pingback: [Writing] Burn Your Bridges and Fly Away « .:Lest I Smite Thee:.