Serrated
May 9th, 2007 by 
dani
Inside me, a place is reserved for emptiness,
that place where you were, outlined raw and jagged,
notched like a saw or the edge of a leaf,
biting me with its row of sharp teeth at every turn:
the chair where you sat, the half-eaten box of cereal,
each still there to remind me where you aren’t.
A serrated knife cuts clean through day-old bread
precisely because of the spaces in between,
and just maybe I can still slice through life
if I keep empty that place where you were
to remind me of what I don’t want.
Posted in Poetry | 
May 10th, 2007 at 9:11 am
I like how you’ve carried the theme all the way through.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Very well done.
May 10th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Ah, those empty spaces…ths one stirs deep feelings.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I like the ending line vey much. Unexpected.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Painful to read, but very well done! Terribly bittersweet - the lingering impact of the relationship, even though it wasn’t the right relationship.
May 10th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Why does love have to hurt so much sometimes… this is so evident in this poem, Dani. Well done, indeed…
May 11th, 2007 at 3:09 am
This is fantastic! I love the unique perspective you give to the serrated edges and how you apply it to the poem. I love that the poem itself is serrated with the couplets and the final single line. Excellent!
May 11th, 2007 at 4:09 am
Masterfully done..the serrated edges…”and just maybe I can still slice through life
if I keep empty that place where you were” - love this visual and a reminder that though bad love hurts, it does pave the way for us to discover what we do want.
May 11th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
You pulled off that twist at the end brilliantly. Congratulations, this is a lovely poem.
May 11th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
A day late I am here. Dani that poem was wonderful. It speaks such truth of why people should remember relationships. Because it’s important to know what not to look for. I wish I had learned it earlier in life, but then things would be different and I wouldn’t be me. Sometimes mistakes are also the path to enlightenment.
August 24th, 2007 at 3:32 am
I have one of those space-holders too. A very good, if uncomfortable, way to keep the hard lessons learned.