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’*

© 2022 experimentsinfiction.com. All Rights Reserved.

*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!

If you enjoyed this poem, please consider supporting my work by buying my book, 40 Poems at 40!

76 thoughts on “Sometimes Arrows Miss Their Mark #poetry #dverse

Add yours

  1. So nicely constructed, yes, with repetitive rhythem that gives rise to dufferent feelings, different emotions, each time the line comes back. The flow is one that carries, like a current…wonderful poetry Ingrid..

  2. Love this especially; “Sometimes arrows miss their mark: love does not always love itself, sends selfish cards left on the shelf to gather dust in dark.” Poignantly done 💝💝

  3. Beautiful poem, Ingrid! I love the form, though I don’t know what it is. The rhymes are charming, and the last verse ends the poem on a positive note. Not all matches are “made in Heaven,” but some are. <3

  4. I loved the repetition so much!! The word Intenion comes to mind in response to your poem. What’s the point if we miss the point. Might as well be intentional in what we aim for.

  5. I think the final stanza blessed all the preceding. Love is so accidental and fleeting that when it finally and lastingly lands, all the prior wandering makes sense.

  6. I like the repetition, and then the finally stanza.Yes! All those missed arrows–and yet, we really don’t know if they would have come to anything anyway, do we? 💙

  7. Beautifully constructed. The repetition, the rhyming scheme (especially the near rhymes), and the evocation of loss.

  8. “sometimes arrows miss their mark”
    ‘Love does not always love itself’ … perfect.👌 It can be attraction or gratitude. I liked your poetry and picture as well, dear Ingrid! ❤️

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