Sometimes Arrows Miss Their Mark #poetry #dverse

“Been shooting in the dark too long
When something’s not right, it’s wrong” – Bob Dylan

Sometimes arrows miss their mark:
the paper heart I sent to you
was crumpled into damp tissue
and never lit that spark

Sometimes arrows miss their mark:
love does not always love itself,
sends selfish cards left on the shelf
to gather dust in dark

Sometimes arrows miss their mark:
and we don’t value things that come too easily
cynical, we pretend sincerity
it’s better not to light that kind of spark

Sometimes arrows miss their mark
completely, and we miss the point:
for love that’s scorned is love that’s out of joint
abandoned in the dark

Sometimes arrows miss their mark
until one day we score a direct hit
and realise, without regret
‘It is the star to every wand’ring bark’*

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*Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

Written for dVerse

Tonight, Sarah hosts Poetics on the day after Valentine’s Day:

Tonight, I’d like you to write a poem about the Valentines that didn’t happen. The lost loves, the ones that didn’t work out: the holiday romance whose number you lost; the girl you chatted with on a train who was travelling to meet her fiancé; the guy who seemed perfect, but stood you up.

I wrote about a few instances – and hope I didn’t cheat with the final stanza!

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