‘I don’t know how to be’
It’s a line I’ve used before
to capture my sense of falling
through the looking glass
I am blown to tiny particles
the light a subtle diffusion
that reflects in shadow
my cast of other selves
My heart tremulous in my chest
causes ripples through my ribs
the cage that holds me in
contains my salt and earth
‘I don’t know how to be’
It’s a line I’ve used before
and this time I’m captured
the looking glass shattered
Ordinary Life... Less Ordinary 
Very profound………the cage that holds me in contains my salt and earth…..
so descriptive and meaningful. Love this great write!
….and yet you are………..the less you try to be……… 🙂 ~ Lovely. ~ B
I can relate to this.
Nick
i dont know who to be…which makes one wonder who you are trying to please? i like what tornado said…and if only we were allowed to just be…
It is ‘how to be’ rather than ‘who to be’ . More of a sense of not knowing how to be in/respond to a moment. It could be not being sure how to fit in, or maybe just how to cope. Does that make any more sense?
i don’t know how to be has a almost haunting feeling…sometimes we get captured in ourselves and good when some of those glasses shatter and the real person can shine through
Yes I think haunting is a good word, when I was writing this it was a feeling of hanging in the air almost, with no grounding or anchor. Thanks Claudia x
A question we subconsciously ask ourselves daily. Really like this.
Sometimes we give so much of ourselves away to others, doing everything for them, we lose our own identity in the doing (I did) So, I can really relate to this and needing to re-learn who we actually are again. Very deep and, thought provoking.
I like the line: I don’t know how to be ~ Maybe we just need to believe in ourselves more ~
http://a-sweetlust.blogspot.ca/2012/06/glass-and-lavender.html
“I am blown to tiny particles
the light a subtle diffusion
that reflects in shadow
my cast of other selves”
Is it through the glass and shattered, and then caged once the glass itself shatters? Then how can any one win? Tell your speaker not to be frightened–neither a mirror nor a fantasy is necessary. SImply say once again “I don’t know how to be,” make peace with the question, and live into the answer.
Excellent. Loved the whole thing. Know the feeling quite well.
Containing my salt and earth is a lovely way to put it. K.
The mystery of “beingness” takes center stage. So fragile, like seeing a baby’s heart beat, its lungs move – knowing that life and its infinity dwells there within. This continues with mounting tension, the feeling of entrapment, the imagination clawing for release, the mind encouraging, the body trapping. I think this poem has great depth, and resilience. The shattered bits are just debris from the soul’s persistence to be free.
I enjoyed that Vanessa, especially the alliteration in the line “causes ripples through my ribs’
A real sense of emotion captured in the words, which is always good.
I know of what you write. Very nice.
Enjoyed this piece; the last two lines are thought-provoking.
I like this a lot. Although together as one piece unbroken, I love how there are distinct stanzas within, easy to identify as you read it. really cool lines in here as well. I don’t know how to be–what a statement, perfectly apt for the poetic mindset and expanded upon through poetry. Great write. Thanks
Love that line — I don’t know how to be.
Me too.
Wonderful my friend.
Thank you Becky, really glad you could connect with this xx