Not You
There's a body in the living room
But it's not you.
It's cold and dry.
You were never dry.
You had warm smooth hands.
You had moist kisses and huge laughter.
That body is not you.
You left us tonight at 11:45.
The body stays.
Everyone motions to it when they speak of you.
They sit next to it and kiss it.
But I know that's not you.
You left us at 11:45.
You were so much more than the bruises on your stomach.
The weak ankles.
The freckled skin.
You were wit and compassion.
You were sunshine and rain.
You were the songs that you sang in my childhood.
You were endless.
That body has ended.
But you never will.
About this poem
I wrote this about 15 minutes after my mother passed away.
Font size:
Written on August 27, 2021
Submitted by AmazingJes on September 24, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 53 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCCDEBFGBHBFIJKLMNOPQ |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 623 |
Words | 144 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Not You" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/139900/not-you>.
Discuss the poem Not You with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In