An Unspoken Arrangement ~ OpenLinkNight 7

An Unspoken Arrangement

He watches me
I know this, because he told me

In the evenings
I leave curtains open, blinds up
it’s easier this way.

For now, this keeps him happy
content
peering in on my life

At one time he was a part of it
a vital part
he chose to forsake that

He was never supposed to come back
in that untruth I found peace
Closure

Now he watches
agreeing to resist the urge
to cross lines, trample hearts

But I know he has crossed it
I know he seeks me beyond the view
through those I am close to.

They tell me
I laugh
and pray the agreement

remains unspoken
as I open the curtains to twilight
ignoring the eyes in the shadows

We're going live at the pub 3pm est.  I'm tending bar, and hoping you'll join us at dVersePoets for the biggest and best poetry linkup EVER! It's OpenLinkNight and you're officially invited!
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Comments

Brian Miller said…
wow. this is a little eerie...there are a couple ways to interpret...stalker of course...but also there is something spiritual or other worldly here as well...very well writ tash...one of my favs...have fun hosting tonight!
August 30, 2011 at 12:07 PM
Scarlet said…
Frightening scene with curtains open at night.

Unresolved love with no firm ending, comes to mind:

"He was never supposed to come back
in that untruth I found peace
Closure"

See you later ~
August 30, 2011 at 12:17 PM
Pat Hatt said…
So is it a ghost you host
A stalker that's being a galker
Or some divine intervention getting the mention
Rather eerie feeling indeed, today at your feed
August 30, 2011 at 12:28 PM
Claudia said…
wow - this is mysterious tash...kinda keeps my phantasy walking all kinds of possible paths...love the feeling in this...and hey...looking forward to you tending the bar tonight....make 'em dance lovely lady...smiles
August 30, 2011 at 1:24 PM
Mark Kerstetter said…
This sounds like a very dangerous game: "closure" that isn't really closure....
August 30, 2011 at 1:58 PM
Life in a Poem said…
oh....this will be fun
August 30, 2011 at 2:42 PM
ayala said…
Tasha, this is strong and eerie...the open curtains...him peering into your life...nice write!
August 30, 2011 at 2:51 PM
Uneven Stephen said…
Wow, spooky good poem, Natasha! At first I saw this as being about a past ghost coming back to haunt, but the more I think about it, to me it seems like this mysterious stalker could be fate, unable to keep its hands out of one's life.
August 30, 2011 at 2:51 PM
steveroni said…
Natasha...a "nice" stalker? Unspoken agreements? Sounds like a certain amount of trust there. Beyond understanding, but there nevertheless! A Beauty, Natasha!
August 30, 2011 at 4:08 PM
Anonymous said…
We all want to look in, to remain constant, even though the door is closed. The healthy ones know when to walk down the street, leaving the window,unguarded.
great poem today!
August 30, 2011 at 4:12 PM
Brendan said…
Love the synecdoche of voyeur in the window and a lover who says he only wants an occasional peek into his forsaken beloved's life. The speaker permits though there is the sense that the ante is always going up.-- Brendan
August 30, 2011 at 4:27 PM
Anonymous said…
Natasha, you write with such pain and passion. I feel your words and I love that! Vivid scenes, so haunting. Sighhhhh.... ♥
August 30, 2011 at 4:37 PM
Steve King said…
You have opened a curtain on the danger that often lurks just out of sight of the ordinary. This has a very other-worldly feel to it. Excellent.
August 30, 2011 at 4:56 PM
Unknown said…
Haunting words, the play with the dark conveyed is so many beautiful layers. Great write! ~ Rose
August 30, 2011 at 5:10 PM
Unknown said…
intense and quite creepy... the dark image of mystery is wonderful.
August 30, 2011 at 5:26 PM
Anonymous said…
Sometimes it's hard to let go...
August 30, 2011 at 5:36 PM
Anonymous said…
this has several ways to look at it, but my mind went to a husband, who cheated,left, now wants back...but stays at a distance...

amazing write
August 30, 2011 at 5:38 PM
Joanne Young Elliott said…
The strangeness of human relationships. You've expressed this well. It's a dark place to be when you feel you're the one that has to shed a little light into another's twisted shadow.
August 30, 2011 at 6:12 PM
Arron Shilling said…
leaving open the cutains - just in case - some really cool and smart devices here tash - i see it has opened up some debate - i wouldnt like to say as i know these things can start with one meaning and end with another - i really enjoyed the elemets within tash - an intresting write for sure

cheers
August 30, 2011 at 6:18 PM
Mindy said…
What a great use of words. Great expression! Kinda eerie but a very good write.
August 30, 2011 at 6:29 PM
Anonymous said…
I love this and the secrets it keeps. If you give him an inch he won't come in for the mile?
August 30, 2011 at 6:41 PM
Unknown said…
Definitely like the way you wrote this, can be read a few ways, but the whole stalker angle keeps the edge there all the while. Great write Tash:)
August 30, 2011 at 7:44 PM
Anonymous said…
Haunting and evocative, I feel like the is more between the lines of this poem then there is the words themselves, as if the words effectively point to what you want to say while leaving the reader to truly wonder. The brevity and tripling of your lines only add to that effect. So well done at pointing at that space that could be good or bad, or something undecided.
August 30, 2011 at 7:52 PM
hedgewitch said…
I'm not sure which is more interesting a character, the dark figure out watching in the night, or the one who leaves the curtains open--is the transgressor seeking absolution, is the 'victim' actually the tormentor? Which is which. Fascinating poem Tash, yes, a bit eerie, but also a real dive down into the subconscious. Enjoyed it much.
August 30, 2011 at 7:54 PM
Daydreamertoo said…
That is creepy. It sounds as if he is a peeping Tom but then, you know he's there so you know he's also practically stalking you, that's un-nerving.
Great prose.
August 30, 2011 at 7:59 PM
Beth W said…
You made my pulse race with each line. I know the feeling of being watched and it is definitely unnerving. Excellent capturing of the tension and building unease.

Beth
August 30, 2011 at 9:17 PM
Ann LeFlore said…
Very chilling and well written. I enjoyed it so much
August 30, 2011 at 9:29 PM
Anonymous said…
I am of two minds about this poem. No question it's a good poem...a haunting poem.

The danger is real there...and that is what is alarming. But you have written some 'edgy' and that is what is primary.

Spooky, too.

Lady Nyo
August 30, 2011 at 9:33 PM
Anonymous said…
I don't find this eerie, spooky or creepy at all. I read it as an ex partner, now rethinking and curious to come back, but unable to cross the threshold, so he just watches, through the open acquiescent curtains.

However this is, I find it so intriguing, the relationship between viewer and viewee. Sublimely expressed. Well done! :-)
August 30, 2011 at 10:17 PM
Divya said…
I also don't find it eerie at all. The way you have described it in plain simple words no decoration Nothing.. just simple as it is ..is what i liked

Loved reading it and felt the feeling of being watched through this :)
August 31, 2011 at 12:51 AM
Anonymous said…
I choose not to read any comments before I comment but I interpret this as a past love that you are still cordial with but never want to love again because they hurt you. I may be wrong but boy this write strikes a cord within me beautiful Tasha!!!
August 31, 2011 at 12:58 AM
Patricia said…
Tasha, Wow! This is such a powerful piece... alluring... the closure that remains open ... and there's the rub with those "vital" parts of our lives... they never seem to stop beating.
Thank you for hosting tonight and leaving your encouraging words for me to enjoy.
August 31, 2011 at 1:08 AM
Anonymous said…
Shockingly sparse and powerful which added to the sense of nakedness. Whatever way you parse the meaning you've outdone yourself with this one. Shivers.
August 31, 2011 at 1:49 AM
Rosemary Nissen-Wade said…
I also didn't find it creepy, as it seems the speaker is the one in control, and is choosing to live her life as she would if there were no watcher. But I do find it enthralling! Like some others, I thought of an ex-husband.
August 31, 2011 at 2:34 AM
Unknown said…
As I first read, I pictured an intrusive man, but as I continued, I too, found a spiritual undertone. Interesting write for sure. I think you've piqued all of our curiosity with this one :)
August 31, 2011 at 3:09 AM
Anonymous said…
Lover/stalker/voyeur How does one live with this...well, you write about it for one...interesting, but eerie, haunting, and perhpas dangerous. Good write!
August 31, 2011 at 4:57 AM
Anonymous said…
Tash..undoubtedly one of my favourites...great dramatic tension and swathes of ambiguity... magic mix
August 31, 2011 at 5:12 AM
Unknown said…
Mystery, suspence, unspoken arrangement indeed... I'm waiting to see how this fantastic fantasy evolves in your lines.... Maybe you'll write more?

Love it!
~
deb
August 31, 2011 at 6:51 AM
Seasideauthor said…
Love and autumn and unresolved closure, loved your write! It inspired me. Not for the one I posted.
but the one I need to write but do not have the words yet. Thank You so much for this title.
August 31, 2011 at 9:33 AM
Joseph Hesch said…
You know simple me, Tash, but for once I saw something beyond the obvious in this piece. I imagined this window a computer monitor and the watcher an online presence. Gave it a whole different flavor that creeped me as much as a literal reading. You're rocking it these days, sweetie!
August 31, 2011 at 11:45 AM
Anonymous said…
I get the feeling of swaying here, toward touch, violation of agreement, away again, just to watch. The exposer semi-controlling the voyeur, maybe, maybe not. When will the tension break? Excellent!
August 31, 2011 at 2:40 PM
Sheila said…
one of your deepest, best, nicest flowing pieces yet, Natasha. My heart is still pounding from the suspense!
August 31, 2011 at 7:08 PM
Rachel Hoyt said…
Oh wow. Very eerie. This gives me chills. Great write.
August 31, 2011 at 7:41 PM
signed...bkm said…
Nice write Tash..you can feel the eyes following, checking on you and you not knowing whether to ignore it or allow fear to be felt...bkm
August 31, 2011 at 8:28 PM
Maude Lynn said…
This gave me a little shiver! Wonderful write. Makes me wonder what might happen next.
August 31, 2011 at 9:24 PM
The Silver Fox said…
Rather unnerving. I hope no one other than the "intended audience" is watching the one who leaves the blinds up...
August 31, 2011 at 10:24 PM
James Rainsford said…
A wonderful sense of loss and potential menace is conveyed here Natasha.
September 1, 2011 at 7:05 AM
Other Mary said…
What a chilling read. There's really a lot going on there.
September 1, 2011 at 9:44 AM
Baishali said…
there are several layers in this poem ... enjoyed it thoroughly.
September 1, 2011 at 11:10 AM
Anonymous said…
A great poem - eerie, creepy, frightening. How long will the open curtains be enough for him?
A great read.
September 1, 2011 at 11:44 AM
Ed Pilolla said…
i enjoyed the sense of discomfort you built here, especially the line in that untruth i found peace. arrangements in our lives can be so dysfunctional and everyday. thanks for a good view of the shadows here.
:)
September 1, 2011 at 5:51 PM
Anonymous said…
"I know he seeks me beyond the view"

i'd rather have this be a ghost than a stalker ~ i could feel the fear and it made my heart race.

very evocative and sublimely creepy!
dani ♥
September 1, 2011 at 6:57 PM
Fireblossom said…
This isn't gonna end well.

Nope.
September 1, 2011 at 10:32 PM
Katherine Krige said…
While this is definitely well written, I too am getting shivers by the content. Might have to go close the blinds.
September 3, 2011 at 12:04 AM
JamieDedes said…
Well done, Tasha ... chilling ... stalker or ghost. Closing my place up now! I'm so suggestable ...
September 3, 2011 at 10:52 PM
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