Some loves shattered
like glass. Messy. Dangerous.
And some just withered.
There are butterflies
that miss their chance to fly,
poems half-scrawled
on screwed up paper,
somewhere there’s a room
full of lost letters, murmuring
their secret stories,
phone numbers lost in pockets
that went through the wash
girls who want to wait for
one last song, boys
who never saw the car.
We step out of the underpass,
turn left, turn right. We miss
the stranger in the book shop,
the bus stop conversation.
All those might have beens.
This one slipped through
my fingers, unnoticed. Not love,
then, but something
soft, unformed, unknown –
that could have been love,
given time.
A post-Valentine’s day not-love poem for dVerse. I’m hosting tonight.
Sarah writes poems 
This is so much like how we walk through life missing opportunities, seeing nothing missing what could have been.. but maybe we are also saved from the failures that could have been
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I love the murmuring letters and all the crossed wires or missed chances on display here, really lovely work.
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Thank you, Anna.
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You examined all of those wrong turns like me…but with no resolution, though there is always the chance!
‘There are butterflies
that miss their chance to fly,’ is heartbreakingly poignant.
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I’m in a melancholy mood…
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So soft, pensive, whimsical, but with ‘scenes’ splashed with emotion. I really like this quiet, gentle poem, of regret, of what ifs, of what could have been, such a lovely rhythm, and flow…
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This is gorgeously woven, Sarah! I especially resonate with; “There are butterflies that miss their chance to fly, poems half-scrawled on screwed up paper.” Sigh. 💝💝
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That’s beautiful. All of the missed opportunities. “boys who never saw the car” made my heart jump in my throat.
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Thank you. I know where that came from, but I wasn’t expecting it.
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I love when those lines just come.
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I love the prompt and your response Sarah. The last lines specially captured this feeling of what could have been…unformed but given time, could have been love.
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Many possibilities but, for better or for worse, we make our choices…your muse spoke this prompt beautifully, Sarah!
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“All those might have beens.”
A wonderful poem
Much love…
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Awesome work, Sarah. I think we’re on the same vibe tonight (“All those might-have-beens”). And thanks for hosting this cool prompt!
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So wistfully threaded, Emily Dickinson would sigh going back to sewing her lost love poems back together. Praise to the “soft, unformed, unknown” that could have been.
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There are some things we will never know. I especially like the lines:
‘Not love,
then, but something
soft, unformed, unknown –
that could have been love,
given time.’
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This is so poignant and lovely. All the might have beens.
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Beautifully written.
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oh no, lost love, missed love, perfect piece
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i’m feelng the melancholy of this piece. we all have those what ifs. great for the day after valentines.
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A lovely poem of all those might have beens. I really love how the variety of missed chances flow here. Perhaps more pensive than sad.
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Oh! Yes, those missed opportunities, they happened a million times a day. How could we have been content with the first spotty lad who didn’t look away?
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Beautiful..indeed,what could have been..?
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A tale we all could tell, I think.
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Each image rings true, something we all can understand, for I think we’ve all felt it–the missed chances, the lost opportunities, the rooms full of letters never received, or the letters one wishes one had never sent..I enjoyed this very much, and thanks for hosting a great prompt.
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Oh sometimes we try to live in those missed, lost, moments of love that never materialized. That is what dreams are made of.
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A great poem, Sarah. People say that there is that one person just for you, but you have shown it could have been one of several given the right opportunity!
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Love the phone numbers in pockets that went through the wash
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“somewhere there’s a room
full of lost letters.”
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I love those lost letters, murmuring their stories…..a lovely read……….with a poignant ending.
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Given time…how we regret that love which didn’t get time enough to blossom! Familiar what ifs and might have beens strung beautifully.
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