Along the Way | Teen Ink

Along the Way MAG

November 29, 2008
By Andrew Dobies GOLD, Long Grove, Illinois
Andrew Dobies GOLD, Long Grove, Illinois
11 articles 0 photos 2 comments

How many faces and birthdays will I come to remember
before my eyes shut for the last time
and I find myself in that closet I hid in that smelled of laundry softener
in the third grade because I didn’t belong in a girl’s house?
How many fingers and palms and fingernails
will I see amid how many trees, swinging green and happy branches in the spring
like the clasped hands of middle aged lovers who left the kids at home with a babysitter
so they could go for an afternoon walk?
I imagine there will be enough smiles and enough tears
that if I wanted to I could flood the city of New York
and swim through those blurred lights in the dead of an August night
and sing along with the crickets and the distorted sound of drowned car horns.
Hopefully I’ll have a bag of forehead wrinkles and boxes full of voices
from teachers and friends and train conductors
who say the most unimportant things like “May I see your ticket?”
Hopefully there will be shoes and coats from parties
and sloppy kisses on doorsteps in cold January nights
where my breath will be visible in the air and the ice near my feet
will sparkle and gleam in the periodic flicker of the dying bulb
in her porch light.
Even if things go wrong,
at least there will be the smell of honeysuckle and sweat
in my mother’s hair as she held me to her chest as I came fresh from the womb
and there will always be those fluorescent lights.



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This article has 216 comments.


on Mar. 26 2010 at 11:25 am
deardiary BRONZE, Saskatoon, Other
3 articles 0 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is a truth universally acknowedged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. -Pride and Prejudice

I like the bag of forehead wrinkles :p

blazey BRONZE said...
on Mar. 26 2010 at 4:12 am
blazey BRONZE, Buffalo Grove, Illinois
4 articles 4 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
Great minds think alike, Albert Enstien

It's ok, the line breaks are really bad need some working on, instead of saying things flat out a bit more show don't tell would be better, also more imagery less ranting, on a scale of 1-10 i would give it a 5(1/2) maybe 5 due to the lines and certain stanzas that need to be moved around to fit the poem better. very good idea though, can kinda see what the author was trying to project.

on Mar. 4 2010 at 9:59 pm
afosnight BRONZE, Mantua, Ohio
2 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive.” -unknown

wow. this is a really good poem. wish i could write that well

on Mar. 4 2010 at 9:23 pm
1COR13 PLATINUM, Anchor Point, Alaska
28 articles 0 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." - Jimmi Hendrix

This is a beautiful poem.

on Mar. 4 2010 at 5:38 pm
Sabrinahco GOLD, Jefferson City, Missouri
10 articles 2 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you're not first, you're last"

I LOVE this. Just, wow.

Lovejunky123 said...
on Mar. 4 2010 at 4:59 pm
Lovejunky123, East Meadow, New York
0 articles 0 photos 5 comments
It was AMAZING!!

on Mar. 4 2010 at 3:27 pm
CountryGothic GOLD, Somersworth, New Hampshire
16 articles 2 photos 206 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Once something has been said, it cannot be said in other words." -Aristotle

I like this, it could use some sorting through but generally it's quite good.

on Mar. 4 2010 at 3:20 pm
writergirl13 GOLD, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
11 articles 8 photos 261 comments

Favorite Quote:
All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.
Ambrose Bierce

amazing!! :)

Heffygrl said...
on Mar. 4 2010 at 10:55 am
this is somewhat confusing but it is inspiring.

on Feb. 10 2010 at 7:58 pm
sonnysulouff BRONZE, Clarendon Hills, Illinois
4 articles 0 photos 34 comments
Love it... the author is so much more optimistic than i am! its refreshing to see

on Feb. 10 2010 at 6:25 pm
This is really good. I think that this author has their feet on the ground, but their head in the clouds. (I know 'cause I'm the same that way)

on Feb. 10 2010 at 5:43 pm
whisperingofdawn GOLD, Colorado City, Arizona
17 articles 12 photos 87 comments
very... vivid. i love it!
you should check out a story that i got 111% on!
http ://www.teenink .com /nonfiction/personal_experience/article/153289/Just-a-Bus-Note/

on Feb. 10 2010 at 1:32 pm
Bambi3226 SILVER, Grants, New Mexico
9 articles 0 photos 21 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." - Lance Armstrong

Thats a pretty awesome poem...

on Feb. 10 2010 at 9:14 am
Michellebrain GOLD, Brooklyn, New York
12 articles 0 photos 62 comments

Favorite Quote:
“A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left.”
-Marilyn Monroe

I really loved this-please check out my poems and stories!

on Feb. 10 2010 at 2:03 am
AmeVoleur BRONZE, Kaikoura, Other
3 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
For attractive lips,
speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes,
seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure,
share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair,
let a child run his fingers through it once a day.

For poise,
walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone...

People, even more than things,
have to be restored, renewed, revived,
reclaimed and redeemed and redeemed ...

Never throw out anybody. Remember, if you ever need a
helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands.
One for helping yourself, the other for helping others".

I loved this! I love the message too.

Please check out my poem Wish :)

on Jan. 30 2010 at 6:58 pm
ReneetheGreat PLATINUM, Castle Rock, Colorado
28 articles 3 photos 85 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Strength does not come from physical capacity, but from an indomitable will."

I love the message that you portrayed through this piece, it shows how much we can get out of life, even if it isnt perfect. I loved it!

on Jan. 19 2010 at 9:42 pm
hi,randomperson. GOLD, Fall City, Washington
13 articles 2 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
Love is not forbidden but it is a risky to fall into,but if its real-than you should stay true. Love is a funny thing,it cant be bought like a diamond ring. Love is greif and pain, you feel lost and insane.Love is a wonderful treasure,keep it forever

This is really good, check out my work please!!!

jimmy_a GOLD said...
on Dec. 29 2009 at 12:41 am
jimmy_a GOLD, Sanford, North Carolina
12 articles 0 photos 40 comments

Favorite Quote:
Look for me, not with a flashlight but open your heart n free your soul n there my love i shall be

great poem i totually loved it

kristina said...
on Dec. 28 2009 at 5:49 pm
hey wat's up

on Dec. 28 2009 at 2:31 pm
sleeplessdreamer PLATINUM, Raleigh, North Carolina
30 articles 0 photos 332 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I have always wanted to write in such a way that people say, 'I have always thought that but never found the words for it.'" -anonymous

Wow... wow... that's really all I can say. So different and it flows so beautifully. Incredible... you have a gift. Keep writing!