Saturday, February 4, 2012

I am like Shattered Glass

I had a poster up in my room when I was in high school:
http://weareone-ruth.blogspot.com/2011/10/shattered-glass.html

I am like shattered glass
Cutting those who touch me
I have been broken
I am hard and sharp
People can see through me.
They know I can hurt them
I am never confronted
I am always walked around.
– Lori Gauntlet

I knew then.  When I talked to my parents, I was assured I was like everybody else.  I talked to other teenagers, I was really sure that how I thought was different and odd but conditioning won out.  After all, my parents would NEVER lie to me. (There really needs to be a sarcasm font.)  KavinCoach validated what I knew then, he also opened the door for me to see all the lies I was told over the years so my parents didn't need to deal with unpleasant things.  I was one of those unpleasant things they didn't want to deal with.  I wasn't the dress up doll of my mother's dreams. 

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow this is powerful reading ....Shattered Glass...

Ruth said...

Hello Rhonda, it was a poem that really spoke to me as a teenager.

kelley said...

I think that is my comment at the top about the poster in my room in high school. I tried to find it to see if I remembered it correctly and to find out who wrote it. I had it word for word. I want the author to know it is still my favorite poem and it drove my dad nuts! Is it still available on a poster? I guess I identified with it.

Ruth said...

I haven't found it on a poster. Thanks for your comment Kelley.

Anonymous said...

I had this on a poster in my high school english class in 1979. Totally defined me then. I have never forgotten it. Wish I could find out who the author was

Ruth said...

The author I found is Lori Gauntlet.
I graduated a couple of years before that. :)

Sally said...

My poster had a woman standing amongst the leaves of I think a lemon tree with dew all over it..the poem was over the leaves .. I loved it

Ruth said...

Thank you Sally. That sounds like a beautiful poster.

Unknown said...

I had no idea how damaged I was til 30+ years later..looking back I can see how that poem must have spoken to me..I will keep searching until I find that exact poster..I hope you found the help you needed Ruth..your parents were probably afraid of facing something they didn't understand.. Don't be too hard on them..its human nature to be afraid of things we don't understand.��

Liisa said...

I also had the poster of the girl’s face with the green leaves in the background. The poem spoke to me powerfully. I took that poster with me from high school to college. It has been so many years ago now. I am really interested in remembering why that poem meant so much to me. I believe that for me, it was about shame.

Liisa said...

I remember owning that very poster and poem in high school. It meant so much to me that I brought it to my college dorm. I am currently trying to analyze why it was so important to me. I believe that for me, it was about shame. That girl in the greenery was me.