LUKA
Sometimes you just stumbled upon an old song that had a brief success in giving you nightmares in the past. You got over it and suddenly it popped out of nowhere and gave you a nasty kick in the balls. This morning it happened to me.
I stumbled upon this:
My name is Luka by Suzanne Vega, from CrisstinaBV on Vimeo.
Fuck, when will people ever learn? When will they understand that what you do to your children today will surely shape them into what they will be tomorrow? When will they see that the scar they inflict upon the children today will never disappear? When will they ever comprehend that what you make the children see and hear will live forever in the deepest, darkest chamber of their hearts?
Margaret Atwood understands it, and she has wrote a poem about it in the book The Door. It goes like this:
The Hurt Child by Margaret Atwood
The hurt child will bite you.
The hurt child will turn
into a fearsome creature
and bit you where you stand.
The hurt child will grow a skin
over the wound you have given it
– or not given, because the wound
is not a gift, a gift is accepted
freely, and the child had no choice.
It will grow a skin over the wound,
the hoarded wound, the heirloom wound
you have pried out of yourself like a bullet
and implanted in its flesh –
a skin a hide a pelt
a scalded rind,
and sharp fish teeth
like a warped baby’s –
and it will bite you
and you will cry foul
as is your habit
and there will be a fight
because you’ll take the fight out of the box
labelled Fights you keep so carefully stored
against emergencies, and this is one,
and the hurt child will lose the fight
and it will go lurching off
into the suburbs, and it will cause
panic in drugstores and havoc
among the barbecues
and they will say Help help a monster
and it will get into the news
and it will be hunted
with dogs, and it will leave a trail
of hair, fur, scales, and baby teeth, and tears
from where it has been ripped
by broken glass and such
and it will hide in culverts
in toolsheds, under shrubs,
licking its wound, its rage,
the rage you have it
and it will drag itself to the well
the lake the stream the reservoir
because it is thirsty
because it is monstrous
with its raging thirst
which looks like spines all over it
and the dogs and the hunters will find it
and it will stand at bay
and howl about injustices
and it will be torn open
and they will eat its heart
and everyone will cheer,
Thank god that’s over!
And its blood will seep into the water
and you will drink it every day.
Yes. We will drink it every fucking single day…
That song brings me back, it’s intense – hope your nightmares turn into sweet dreams and a happy today. Peace, Harlon
I hope so.
It will take time, though.
That’s the tough part of life I find, when things take time….try not to dwell, you are an amazing writer, know yourself as that for a moment. I do! Peace, H
Thank you for the vote of confidence. 🙂
I can’t access the song, said my internet provider, lol. But the poem is great, it gave me chill. I happened work in area where I’ve witnessed children who becoming ‘monster’ because they’re hurt. So yeah, being a good parent is a must.
Video sharing site Vimeo still banned by our government. You can install add-ons ZenMate on your browser (Mozilla) for watching it.
hey, thanks for the tips. 🙂
Bravo! Bravo!
Fucking Bravo!
Edwin, I nominated you for the Blog Award, Please see my blog for rules. Congratulations! https://annermurray.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/nomination-for-blog-tour-award/
Challenge accepted. I’ll do it a bit later, though.
great post. love the song. never came across the poem before. it’s brilliant.
Both song and poem brilliantly tear your heart out, if I may say so.
I know what you mean by hearing Luka. The song gets me everytime. Great poem too.