"I Remembered 'The Lion King' ..."

The animated version replayed behind my eyes while writing this.

The Cafe` Series - Life As We Live It.

“I remembered ‘The Lion King’…”

 

Most all the “Café’s” are shuttered.

But you can’t get what they GAVE …online.

I look for places to pause now;

places worth a pause, a view, a thought.

So few,

…so few.

 

And just when you think you found one…

And you sit and you just…watch.

You get “not-funny” looks from those near,

or those passing by.

 

The “looks” are of your not belonging -

go away, go away, you don’t belong,

you’re not a part, you’re just not an “anything”.

 

And my thoughts turned more deeply inward,

and the pen scrawled…

 

*********

 

We “pin” people to a Label

- all too often -

by our visual perception

- that dreaded “first impression”.

 

We offer separation

by generation,

and label others via OUR perceptions,

self-perversions, and predictions…

all those opinions!

 

And we’re right!

Always right.

Always, always, and in all ways …right.

I noticed that, haven’t you? -

or yours, or theirs?

It IS an “imperial” We, after all.

 

We KNOW we are!

And we tell ourselves OFTEN - enough(?) -

to ensure the verity of our perceptions,

our receptions, our deceptions …our inceptions -

of - everything - and the nothings

we’re so afraid of…

OH! so afraid of.

 

Our lives ARE a cycle

- so many cycles -

yet, ever fewer lives.

 

What’s mine is mine

until you make it …yours…

Then it’s not mine …anymore…

And CAN you understand how I miss that?

I miss what WAS mine.

 

I

Miss

…so much…

So much.

 

Can YOU feel?  - I do - way too much

and soooo many forever’s are just so often

…missed… a myst now.

 

It IS the little things,

- daily things - the “looks” -

moments …and oh so many “nothings” - sigh.

 

…But who cares?  Cowboys don’t cry.

They always told me that,

and I wanted to be a cowboy so bad - back then.

And the tears always broke open the lies.

I always cried - anyway.

 

You do that when it’s YOU that feels, ya know?

We just fade-to-black… now,

is the accepted perception,

but black is soooo many shades of gray.

 

Behind my eyes,

I see ME, when mine was mine -

but you don’t see ME - behind your eyes.

My future was your yesterday.

I’m not in your tomorrow

…but you were ALWAYS in mine.

Chuckling here - always in mine.

 

So many, many cycles.

 

Chris

Author's Note

Feel Free

Reviews

[Thomas W Case]

Thoughtful and raw — the emotional undercurrent here is unmistakable.

[Chris]

Hi Tom... Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Yes, a lot of emotions were "flagged" here.

[Grace Lee]

this holds so many wisdom and water enough to fill up the feild
you are a great poet i must say

[Chris]

Great? - Nah, just me. It is nice of you to pause and leave your thoughts, thank you.

[Kenneth The Poet]

Epic work, old friend. So many cycles indeed.

[Chris]

Good seeing you again...

[S.zaynab.kamoonpury]

Interesting muse in epic poem, wrll expressed. Esp liked the line of generation separation, sad yeah! Kudos!

Plz also read and comment my newest poem here

[Stephany]

The longing for acceptance. To belong. And stringer still …. The yearning to be a part of someone else. Bravo!

[Chris]

Is morning here - G'morning.

[RomaJ]

I love how you layer memory, perception, and longing..the way cafes, looks, and fleeting moments become portals into lost time and missed connections. There’s a beautiful tension between humor and melancholy, and your reflections on identity, ownership, and cycles of life feel profoundly human. I especially admire how you capture the invisible weight of “not belonging” and the delicate fracture between our past selves and who we are now. Reading it feels like walking through someone else’s memories while recognizing fragments of our own.
..Roma

[FlatDaddy]

Powerful, gunny -- and I felt it all the way. I see those same looks -- I GET those same looks, and yes, (sigh), I have GIVEN those same looks. Too busy. Too busy toe see you,or you me, or we or they or us, them, we ...ALL! I see all of them, and fewer and fewer of them see me, see us, Gunny. Hmph, we used to be the many, the once was, then became the others, the outsiders, slid right into being the few, the unappreciated, unneeded, unwanted, unseen un ...un. >poof!

[Chris]

Yeppers... Thanks for pausing Keith.