LEAVING THE ISLAND

1042
11
Submitted Date 05/14/2019
Bookmark

Leaving The Island
Age 20, Deya, Majorca, Spain, 1965
Majorca is an island, shrouded in myth, between Spain and Italy.
The Spanish for this place is Deia, Mallorca but I have chosen to use the Anglicized spelling,

-- This is one poem, in an autobiographical series of poems, I posted here at WriteSpike. Go to my stories section for others. They are in chronological order. --

I had been staying with the mother of a close friend, but suddenly things changed.

Intuition is the supra-logic that cuts out all the routine processes of thought and leaps straight from the problem to the answer.
~ Robert Graves ~ (English poet and authority on Greek and Roman mythology)
(who lived in Deya, Majorca from the 1920s until his death in 1985)


On the island of Majorca, I became the target
of my college roommate's mother -
too young to understand her illness
I only knew that she, Bella, was picking on me
as I had seen her bully others

so I bought the cheapest boat ticket to the mainland
which meant sleeping on the deck overnight

at the ferry's bow
I watched the ship back away
from the city of Palma
into the Mediterranean --
no ripples on the water
long sharp lights
mirrored in the twilight

I hated leaving Bella,
I had wanted us to be good friends

my stomach pulled tight
as the city grew smaller
and I felt a rope inside me
stretch to the point of breaking

then like a gift
the line snapped
and I was filled with
a different deeper sadness:
she was only the first
of many I would have to leave

it was a warning that prepared me

I looked up
as the darkness fell from blue to black -
and saw a silhouette
of the island's mountains
cut out flat against the sky

and I was reminded of Odysseus
who some believe
had landed here
when he was lost
after the Trojan War

only to find his way back
back to Penelope
and to his home

Comments

Please login to post comments on this story

    • Rick Doble 4 years, 10 months ago

      Robert Graves is a very interesting thinker and writer who isolated himself in Majorca for 60 years until he died, although he was well known and well respected in England.

  • David Ross Washington Jr 4 years, 10 months ago

    So Bella is the college roomate's mother? Just want to be sure.

    • Rick Doble 4 years, 10 months ago

      Yes, maybe I should make that clearer

    • Rick Doble 4 years, 10 months ago

      I made a slight change -- see if that is clearer.

  • Ceara 4 years, 10 months ago

    she was only the first of many I would have to leave
    There are certainly times when we need to distance ourselves from people to take care of ourselves. It's a difficult feeling to deal with, but you illustrated it so clearly.

    • Rick Doble 4 years, 10 months ago

      I think this is one of life's hardest lessons -- be caring, sympathetic and helpful BUT don't let others do a number on you.

  • No name 4 years, 10 months ago

    It takes strength to be able to move forward on your own. Loved this.

    • Rick Doble 4 years, 10 months ago

      I hated to leave anyone but my life was often a story of leavings until I found the right people or situation where I was comfortable.

  • Miranda Fotia 4 years, 10 months ago

    I saw David's comment and yours saying that you changed it slightly. It still seems a little abstract but I think it is good that way. You did make it clear that it was your roommate's mother though...I guess I am just a little whimsical with my interpretation sometimes and felt like it could be a feeling or place also.

    • Rick Doble 4 years, 10 months ago

      That's very perceptive -- I was leaving for a number of reasons, she was just the most obvious.