Lines of Sight | Teen Ink

Lines of Sight

August 8, 2011
By savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.


When you’re the youngest of the family
A midget next to all
You look up to everyone
As they walk proud and tall

But since you’re the youngest
They grow up before you do
One by one moving away
As you wait til you can too

First you let go of siblings
As they go away to college
Moving into dorms
In search of dreams and knowledge

Then you let go of parents
When you finally turn eighteen
Going out to conquer the world
As the new king or queen

Then come the weddings
When they find that special someone
You have to share your older brother
Since his new life has begun

Next are the funerals
When the older generations pass away
You live all alone now
With no one to share the day

By now you’re used to the loss
The pain and the sorrow
You forgot about the part
Where life gives a new tomorrow

Perhaps you’ve found your partner
Hope to start a family
Together you chase your dreams
To stars across the galaxy

Now as your children leave
Come back the pain and sorrow
You remember all the times you had
Although it seems an age ago

You realize now if you hadn’t lost them
Your parents, siblings, and kids
You wouldn’t know how much they meant to you
As life ebbs from your wrinkled eyelids


The author's comments:
I hope that this poem helps people let go and understand that letting go is the price we pay to realize just how much they mean to us.

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This article has 25 comments.


on Aug. 21 2011 at 12:43 am
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Yah I hope so, I really like his fiance too.

on Aug. 21 2011 at 12:41 am
Destinee BRONZE, Oakville, Other
3 articles 0 photos 303 comments

Favorite Quote:
Blegh. - Abraham Lincoln

Wow!! Congratulations dude! May he have a lovely married life. :)

on Aug. 21 2011 at 12:18 am
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Oh wow, congratulations!  My brother recently got engaged so I kinda know the feeling.

on Aug. 21 2011 at 12:12 am
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Aw, thanks. :D

on Aug. 21 2011 at 12:05 am
Destinee BRONZE, Oakville, Other
3 articles 0 photos 303 comments

Favorite Quote:
Blegh. - Abraham Lincoln

Naw, marriage. It's okay. We meet her like every week, so I don't mind much. :) 

on Aug. 19 2011 at 5:19 pm
Sarah1311 DIAMOND, Clackamas, Oregon
54 articles 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"To the world you may not be someone, but to someone you may be the world" and "Never frown because you never know who's fallen in love with your smile" <3

Beautful. :)

on Aug. 19 2011 at 12:14 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Yah that doesn't exactly flow better! LOL.  Your sister moved out?  College?  How are you dealing with that?

on Aug. 19 2011 at 1:05 am
Destinee BRONZE, Oakville, Other
3 articles 0 photos 303 comments

Favorite Quote:
Blegh. - Abraham Lincoln

This is sooo good! My sister recently moved out and I can relate so much. 

The last two lines, I think, could flow a bit better. Maybe something like "You wouldn't know how much they meant/To you this dying day"? 

But then again, "day" doesn't rhyme with "kids". Haha.

on Aug. 14 2011 at 11:42 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

I can see both sides of the tracks as it were.  :D  It's nice to have that perspective.

Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Aug. 14 2011 at 5:24 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

Seems like our family circumstances are real similar. 

on Aug. 13 2011 at 4:35 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Oops, him I meant.  Yes I read about you family.  I can relate to that too, as I said, my immediate family is quite small, I only have one sibling.  Divorce is pretty harsh.  I don't have first hand experience but I've seen it in other people.  Sometimes it works out, other times it creates a rift in the family.

Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Aug. 13 2011 at 3:57 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

It's actually a him and yes, it is a movie. A very sad movie. I forget what exactly it's about-it's hard to explain. Did you read my comment about my family? 

on Aug. 13 2011 at 2:19 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Aderes18:

Gosh so sorry, didn't mean to skip you!  The fact that you compare me to Shel Silverstein is like WOW.  I loved her poems when I was younger, not that I don't love them now.  I've never heard of the Green Mile, is that a movie?


Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Aug. 13 2011 at 2:06 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

What about me, Savetheplanet? 

on Aug. 13 2011 at 1:06 pm
savetheplanet PLATINUM, Anaheim, California
45 articles 9 photos 564 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

I really appreciat all of the comments and thanks for the support! :D

 

Raven:

 

I have some trouble with meter, it's like the bane of my existence really.  :D  It just always seems to get in the way of writing poetry.

 

Stargirl:

 

I can totally relate, I mean my family is quite small,but both my parent's families are huge.  I have so many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews that I haven't even met half of them in my lifetime.


Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Aug. 12 2011 at 2:16 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

The Green Mile was on TNT yesterday, what a confidence! I didn't get to watch it though, nobody else wanted to watch it but me! 

Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Aug. 11 2011 at 9:47 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

I think it's harder in a family where there are much more children and the parents divorce, because it changes the family dynamics so much more drastically. 

That's great! :)


on Aug. 11 2011 at 8:17 pm
IamtheshyStargirl PLATINUM, Lothlorien, Utah
44 articles 16 photos 2206 comments

Favorite Quote:
Boredom instigates extreme creativity.
~Amoniel

"Bowing gratefully to all of my subjects, 'thank you. Thank you. The pleasure is mine." Nah, I'm just kidding. We're all kings together.'"
~Thesilentraven

I do love it, and honestly, they don't seem like a lot to me, or my mother either :) It is pretty hard to get lonely. I think I've really matured faster than maybe I would have in a smaller family. 

That sounds really hard. We had some old family friends with twelve kids, they were awesome :) Their parents got divorced a few years ago, though, that was awful. 


Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Aug. 11 2011 at 5:48 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

LOVE THIS POEM! 

Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Aug. 11 2011 at 5:48 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

First of all, this is a very great poem! It reminds me of Shel Silverstein, it's that great! You're extremely talented! :) 

I can still relate to this poem even though I am the oldest child. 

Everyone in my family is much older than me, on my father's side, my cousins are much older than me. 

On my mother's side, there isn't many young people, everyone's from the Baby Boomer generation or older so I've always felt like the baby of the family!

And recently I've felt this sense of loss- I've always had an extremely close relationship with my uncle but he's about to get married and he's moving away(it's an extremely short distance but he's lived in one place my entire life so...)

But I seriously relate!