You Were Expecting More?
This was a poem that when I started writing it I meant to be a vent poem when I was feeling pretty down about myself but halfway through I started feeling better about things and this poem kind of reflects that shift as it started becoming more about finding a statue in the woods than fully becoming the metaphor it was meant to be. Hence why I say it’s slightly venting, sometimes the mood of the poem I’m writing will reflect a mood I moved on from or it’ll just be a story of a place/mood I want to be at/in. Originally posted this in March 2022 as one half of a set of poems I posted at the same time.
You Were Expecting More?
By: A.X. Bueno
There is what looks to be a statue in front of you
You've known and heard about it before but actually seeing it in person is something new
You sought it out after hearing about it from friends and you're approaching it for the first time
It had some sheet obscuring parts of it and now you see it all and it's not in the expected prime
You see that to it time and the world have behind the veil not been very kind
There's plenty of cracks running along it with some in places like the hand deeply defined
Along with the cracks there's uneven shapes and bits of rust on the statues body scattered around
You didn't expect it to be this beaten up and run down
With the photos and things you had heard about it you didn't expect it to be this run into the ground
But it is, the statue has metal and paint flaking in some parts and seems different from its renown
You look at the soil displaced from the statue sinking down into the dirt forming a mound
And you wonder just what caused all this wear and metal scarring so soon
This statue slightly sunken into the ground and looking like the potential subject of a sad tune
You wonder why the attempt to cover the damages on it and if someone had something to hide
You're honestly surprised this statue always seemed in photos so together and dignified
You're tempted to say those were all a facade but even still there's something there
The qualities of a noble statue just weakened by fate and events of which you're unaware
The ravages of time and erosion which don't feel like they should have happened so fast
Still all you've done is try to examine something with no answers and be aghast
It's time for that end, merely gawking at this statue's oddities for your sake shouldn't last
But as you finally walk away something unexpected happens that you almost pass
Just when you thought you were done and were content in the conclusions you drew
The statue turns slightly and blink at you