Not a very good picture of it, but here is my 1996 poem book. It is entitled The Letter I Couldn't Send, of which I have a poem of the same name. Like I said, 1996 produced 140 poems, so I think I'll break up the introduction into two parts, and post 2 poems from it in this first go-round.
The first poem I'll share is the one of the same name, The Letter I Couldn't Send. It's basically about some of the things that we would like to say, should say, sometimes HAVE to say, but just can't. The good thing is that even the letters that you don't send can help you just by getting the stuff out of your head and off your mind. I used to think that maybe my poems were helping me deal with some things, but then I came to the conclusion that they weren't really helping me because I wasn't letting anyone read them. They may have helped me let off some steam, but only into a slightly larger area, which then filled up and I was pretty much right back where I started. But now that I'm onto this blogging thing with all my poems, maybe it'll all come back around and help me after all. So, without further ado any longer, here is the poem:
The Letter I Couldn't Send
I've been thinking about you for so long
About what wasn't, and what could've been
I thought I might send you a letter
So I got out my paper and pen
I wrote "Hello, how are you?"
"I guess I'm doing ok"
Then I wrote "with love always, Me"
Couldn't think of anymore that I could say
But I said "No, that just won't do it"
I need to write a little more than that
Once I walked into my lonely heart
There was no coming back
I poured out all my emotions
Told you what I've felt inside
I wrote to you the sweetest words
I've ever heard of in my life
I tried my best to put to words
The thoughts and feelings trapped within
I started at one side of my heart
And worked to the other end
I wrote you words I've never said
Words I probably never will
I told you how you made me feel
When you made my world stand still
I shared with you my secrets
My fantasies and plans
I asked you to take my life
Out of my shaking hands
I told you so much about me
There was nothing left to be said
For a moment I was thinking
That I may be in over my head
I shared with you the sunrise
The way it looks from my end
I wrote things would've made you smile
In the letter I couldn't send
I let you know the human side
That gets lost so easily
By the time you would've finished reading
You would've known me better than me
You would've read the promises
The things I'd do if you came back
You would've felt what I wrote when I wrote it
You would have felt my poor heart crack
You would have felt the magic
You would have seen the tears
You would have heard the music
And smelled my biggest fears
You would've known the heartache
And the emptiness that fills my heart
Perhaps you would have felt the pain
From when you tore my world apart
It was a first class letter
It would have made you remember when
Everything you've always wanted to hear
Was in the letter I couldn't send
The day you would have gotten my letter
Would have been the first of your new life
In my words you would have found the reason
The words that cut just like a knife
You would have known that it was the truth
For simple lies are easier to tell
A test that would have stood through time
The proof before you clear as a bell
You would've known by the look on the mailman's face
By the way he held it carefully by the end
That it wasn't just an ordinary letter
But that was the letter I couldn't send
Maybe it would have made a difference
Perhaps somewhere there was an ear that I could bend
But now it doesn't matter, for the words are trapped forever
Somewhere in the letter I couldn't send.
Nelson Coblentz
'96
Whew!! I told you they can get long sometimes!!
Now for the Table of contents- Here's the first half of them:
- The Letter I Couldn't Send
- Tears Of Religion
- A Ring Around Her Heart
- Cross-Section
- Your Town, U.S.A.
- It's The Love
- I Thought So Too
- We Don't Have to Call It Making Love
- Simpler Times
- Bite The Hand
- Tell Me Again
- Playing With Fire
- Too Much Time
- That Doesn't Mean I Won't
- The Night
- Through Evil Eyes
- (I Don't Want To Be) Just Fooling Myself
- Locked Away
- Do You Still Love Me?
- Try Me
- I've Never Been This Far Before
- Welfare
- I Wanna Be There
- Mortuary
- Love In The Fast Lane
- Making Angels
- Headlines
- Between The Lines
- Do Not Enter
- When Mountains Crumble
- Red, White, And Blue
- Stepping On Roses
- Excuse Me
- True Happiness
- Be My Lover
- What Does It Mean
- Standing Too Close
- In your Dreams
- A Little Closer
- Touch My Heart
- What Would You Say
- Don't Hide It
- At The Bottom, Begging
- The World In One Hand (And Love In The Other)
- Jumbo Shrimp
- Not What I Was Wanting
- All In Your Hands
- The Perfect Place
- Someone Like Me
- Volunteers
- Not Guilty
- A Story To Tell
- You Could Have Just Said So
- All The Kings Horses
- Optical Contusions
- A New Sun Rising
- The Man In The Mirror
- I Crossed The Line
- Hopefully
- Imagined Realities
- All I Can Say Is...
- In The Heart Of The Believer
- King Of My Kingdom
- Cry For Me
- The Broken Seal
- Blinded By The Light
- Tomorrow
- It Ain't Working
- The Other Side Of Forever
- Bitter Sweet
To Be Continued.......
By the way, I didn't offset the listing like that. It happened by itself when It posted and I don't exactly know how to fix it. So I'll leave it. Maybe one day I'll figure it out.
Ok, Folks! Thats the table of contents for the first half of the book! Tomorrow, or when I get back on here, I'll post the second half, and another poem from the second half as well.
As you may notice, or not, I think anyway, the poems are starting to get better as time goes on. Later, however, you might see them start to get a little less again, due to the fact that I was just getting used up and/ or was having to force the poems a little bit more than before. I know at one point I really made a conscious effort to write about different things, not just love, so I covered some different topics. I like some of those, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you on down the road.
Thats the end of this blog. Until next time, this is it!
From Me to You,
Nelson Coblentz
WOW!! I would love to read one of those religious poems:) Can I post a poem of yours on my blog from time to time? Have you ever tried to get published? You have real talent!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Peggy!! I appreciate that! I don't really have a whole lot of religious poems, but it would be okay if you want to share some of these on your blog. As far as publishing, I do have a poem in a compilation, but I think it was only because I bought a copy. I haven't tried otherwise.
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