“Honey I’m sorry I keep saying Hurry–”

We stop at the dry cleaners and the grocery store

and the gas station and the green market and

Hurry up honey, I say, hurry,

as she runs along two or three steps behind me

her blue jacket unzipped and her socks rolled down.

Where do I want her to hurry to? To her grave?

To mine? Where one day she might stand all grown?

Today, when all the errands are finally done, I say to her,

Honey I’m sorry I keep saying Hurry—

you walk ahead of me. You be the mother.

And, Hurry up, she says, over her shoulder, looking

back at me, laughing. Hurry up now darling, she says,

hurry, hurry, taking the house keys from my hands.

Poetry Ptuesday: Hurry by Marie Howe
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2 thoughts on “Poetry Ptuesday: Hurry by Marie Howe

  • April 2, 2019 at 8:32 AM
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    Reminds me of the Cyndi Lauper song “time after time”

    “…Suitcases of memories
    Time after

    Sometimes you picture me
    I’m walking too far ahead
    You’re calling to me, I can’t hear
    What you’ve said
    Then you say, go slow
    I fall behind
    The second hand unwinds

    If you’re lost you can look and you will find me
    Time after time
    If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting
    Time after time

    After my picture fades and darkness has
    Turned to gray
    Watching through windows
    You’re wondering if I’m okay
    Secrets stolen from deep inside
    The drum beats out of time

    If you’re lost you can look and you will find me
    Time after time
    If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting
    Time after time

    You said go slow
    I fall behind
    The second hand unwinds
    If you’re lost you can look and you will find me
    Time after time

    If you fall I will catch you, I’ll be waiting
    Time after time
    If you’re lost you can look and you will find me”

    Cyndi reminds me of Walt. But then so does everything. I find Walt endlessly charming.

    • April 4, 2019 at 5:58 AM
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      It does seem like a comment regret (uh oh, I used the R word) between people who share an intimate relationship is just simple timelines not matching up, or the perception of time not matching up… I’m having a hard time describing this correctly. I mean we’re often frustrated because other people we’re close to are too fast or too slow compared to ourselves.

      Without reading the lyrics, I never would have thought of this song with the poem. But “I’m walking too far ahead/You’re calling to me, I can’t hear/What you’ve said/Then you say go slow/I fall behind/The second hand unwind”, well, that’s bang on!

      Cyndi and Walt, hmm, I buy what you’re selling. Both pretty upbeat and reliably familiar/warm, but maybe with a tinge of something darker/more chaotic at work. At the very least, both institutional Americana at this point 😉

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