Something Concrete
Let’s workshop this poem about a man, a divorced father long estranged from romance, who at least goes out drunk with optimism after a promising first date
scent of the day: Laudano Nero, by Tiziana Terenzi (a personal fav, back-up bottle worthy warlock scent)
Something Concrete
After a promising goodnight kiss
(the first since the divorce,
distant enough for friends
to worry), he dove headlong
with hope from the night
springboard into that shunned
pool—his ex’s joy—he forgot
he let his son drain for skateboarding
last weekend visit.
This poem, "Something Concrete," presents a nuanced exploration of vulnerability, regret, and the unanticipated consequences of emotional optimism. The poem starts with a "promising goodnight kiss," evoking a hopeful but fragile moment of connection following a period of emotional drought. The divorce referenced places the speaker in a liminal state, suggesting emotional recovery still in process, and the "first since the divorce" introduces a sense of tentative rebirth in the domain of intimacy. The kiss marks a return to vulnerability, and the mention of friends "worrying" adds an external layer of concern, framing the speaker's emotional leap as potentially reckless. This sets the stage for the speaker's "headlong" dive—an evocative metaphor for plunging into hopeful optimism without fully considering the risks.
The central metaphor of the "shunned pool" takes on a deeper resonance. "His ex’s joy" becomes a haunting specter of past happiness, and the pool itself functions as both a literal and symbolic space—once filled with water and joy, but now drained, emptied of its original life, much like the emotional state of the speaker. The sudden revelation that the pool has been "drained for skateboarding" by his son during the last weekend visit underscores the generational divide and the unintended consequences of miscommunication or neglect. The act of draining the pool, an innocent oversight by the speaker, takes on tragic weight as his hopeful dive is not into something sustaining but rather into a void, mirroring his internal emotional state—one where the wellspring of his ex’s joy no longer exists.
This final image of a dive into an empty pool connects to the larger themes of the poem: a dive into the past, misguided by hope, lands the speaker in a space of unintended pain, and the literal emptiness of the pool speaks to the emotional void left by both the divorce and the separation from his son. The poem illustrates the peril of engaging with past joys, now inaccessible or misinterpreted, and the unintended harm that arises from failing to recognize when circumstances have irreversibly changed.
vulnerability, regret, misplaced optimism, divorce, emotional void, generational divide, past joy, unintended consequences, intimacy, emotional recovery.