Strung Together (I Know You Know)

So the name of this blog is Secondhand Smoke Poetry...The whole idea behind it actually comes from one of my favorite bands, Brand New. They have a song called "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" and there's a line in the song that I just find absolutely beautiful.

"Spring keeps you ever close, you are secondhand smoke.
You are so fragile and thin, standing trial for your sins
Holding onto yourself the best you can,
You are the smell before rain,
you are the blood in my veins."

Quite honestly, I find that music, this band in particular is my inspiration for a lot of what I write. Because of this, I wanted to title this poetry blog something that inspires me. and that's how "Secondhand Smoke" came about.

Here's a poem called Strung Together (I Know You Know). This poem is about my friendship with my best friend...it's unlike an friendship I've ever had and she just means so much to me. It was funny actually because I entered this poem in my school poetry contest and won third place. She had read it several times but never seemed to realize what it was about. About a month later, her mom read it and was like, "Awww that's adorable it's about the two of you isn't it?" And of course I told her yes, and my best friend was shocked, and read it again because she didn't even realize it. For my birthday that year, she painted me (she's an amazing artist) a beautiful painting with the words of the poem decoupaged onto the canvas. All in all, I'd say this poem has some pretty strong memories infused into the words.

If you're speechless, forget all words,
Forget the rhythm of sentences and the flowing of rhymes
Just keep our memories hung, dangling from your ears
so that they're halfway between your heart and mind
And like the notes of a chord, we're strung together,
can't play one without the other
and when played, a beautiful melody is formed
as if to say 'from this view the world is perfect.'

Can you hear me?
I know I'm speaking quietly,
whispering down the frequency
but without another word,
I know you know.
It's all found in the motion of eyes,
the gesture of a smile
I know you know.

With the slightest reassurance that you're near
I'm ready to face the world head on
Because it seems no matter the difficulty or challenge
or even the distance needed to travel,
you're still as close as you are when we're standing side by side
It's a reminder of the laughter lingering on our lips
The more jokes told, the more memories made
and the more I've realized what the 'best' in front of a word really means

Can you see me?
I know at times I'm not in view
and the words I'm speaking aren't clear cut
but without another glance
I know you know
It's all found in stifled laughs
that we make at essentially everything
I know you know.

Regardless of the paths our futures hold,
all the twists and turns on crooked lanes,
the one thing that will help ease the abrupt stops
is that together we'll be going forward in a straight line
And our shoulders will have each other for company
and still will as we grow older
And we'll look up to the stars and listen for crickets-
A harbinger of a life lived to its fullest.

Can you feel me?
I know there are times I'm hard to read
and just talking can be frustrating
but forget everything else
I know you know
It's all found in the squeeze of a hand,
the punch of an arm
I know you know.





By the way, I realize these first few poems have been a bit long- I'll get some shorter ones in here soon :)