Out of the Shell!

Out of the shell!
the tortoise said
out of that hell!
the price was paid.
Now I am cold
but not in vain
as I am told
I won the pain!
I can walk free
did nothing wrong
there is no tree
but I stay strong.

I’m a bit old
and just need love
I’ll be a bit bold
and play the dove.
I found a girl
on a dating site
oh, how I swirl
to her I write.
She’s just too young
or I’m too old
but I’ve begun
and now I’m sold.

My name is Frank
and she’s Nicole
I’m not a prank
yet she’s my goal.
Told her the truth
what will she do?
she’s in her youth
and I feel blue.
Difference in age
is not so good
it is a cage
you think I should?

© February 2019 Marta Pombo Sallés

(Poem inspired by poet Newton Ranaweera’s post: See, we’re free!!: https://newtoneapblog.wordpress.com/2019/02/17/see-were-free/, and by chapter 6 of Mario Savioni’s novel “Pickles and Tarts”:
https://savioni.wordpress.com/2019/02/12/pickles-and-tarts-chapter-6/)

Published by MOMENTS

74 thoughts on “Out of the Shell!”

  2. My daughter has a rule for my dating women: Take half my age. Add ten years. Don’t date women any younger than that. So–I’m 64. Half that is 32. Plus 10 is 42. Are Frank and Nicole more different in age than 64 and 42?

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  9. Interesting piece, and raises a number of questions. One being is having an older man dating a younger woman such a big deal? why not have an older woman date a younger guy? now that is interesting.

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      1. Yes I agree Men tend to be attracted to younger women, what I question is it right or wrong? If the only anomaly is age why are we looking at it differently? What if it was religion? Culture? or even Nationality?

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    1. Yes, that is a good thing to do. Follow your heart. It is hard for me to tell my opinion. My husband is a bit older than me but not 35 years older. If none of the couple are interested in having/raising children then one of the problems disappears. I am happily childfree and married to my husband and he is older than me, but our age difference is just 5 years.

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      1. ‘I smile,’ Thank you for sharing. There is 7 years difference between my Husband and I, and I am older. He lied about his age in the beginning because he knew I would never go out with him, but once we started to get to know each other it didn’t matter. In addition, I was born Christian and him Muslim. Today, we are married (thirteen years) and have two beautiful children, and I would not change anything. Now I look at differences differently and embrace diversity. It’s not about giving my children the best of both worlds, it’s about giving them the best of the world.

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    1. Yes, age is a number but there are still many prejudices in our society against these issues. Please check the posts I am refererring to. They are both, Newton Ranaweera and Mario Savioni, much better writers than myself.

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  14. Great poem, Marta! And like all really good poems, it has made me think. I am a romantic, and I would like to believe that in true love, age shouldn’t matter. But in Frank’s and Nicole’s case, the age difference might be too vast to overcome…

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      1. Yes, I have read chapter 7 of ” Pickles anf Tarts” which you kindly provided me the link to, and eagerly look forward to reading more of Mario’s novel to find out how the situation turns out…😊

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      2. Thank you so much, Paul. This means a lot to me and, of course, to Mario as well. He is such a talented writer who deserves more attention than what he has actually gotten till now. I am glad his blog seems to finally take off. In additon, I find Mario’s novel very intriguing and non-conformist. There is always social critique in his writing. Also, I like the little erotic part of chapter 3 plus his great photographic descriptions of Nicole’s pictures (Mario is also a great photographer and artist), and of the cafe where Frank is sitting and writing to her with his laptop. So glad you also keep intrigued to find out how the situation unfolds. 😊

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  17. I am sitting up writing in the middle of the night, so this note will not be as long as the last one, but I so appreciate the writing. I hope that all of these are published. They are important literature. I tweeted about your piece about Catalan on Twitter. Thank you so kindly.

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  19. I love the light, playful flow of this poem and the topic. It made me recall Save the Tiger (A movie with Jack Lemmon) when two different generations came together for one night. They didn’t understand each other at all.

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    1. Thank you. I love Jack Lemmon and I think I must have seen that movie long ago. Yes, different generations tend to have few interests in common, but as friends their relationship can work. Sexual relationships aiming at complete love are more difficult to fulfill, but well, this difficulty already exists between people of similar ages.

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      2. We will see how Mario’s novel evolves in this respect. 19-year-old Nicole has a boyfriend, but she has contacted 54-year-old Frank through the dating site. Why would she do this? At first Frank wonders if Nicole has made a mistake. Everything in Mario’s novel is very well written.

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  21. The need for love and freedom echoes in this brilliantly penned poem. Tortoise shell used both metaphorically and literally, the shells that we all feel protected in esp as the age advances we long for more security. I wrote something similar some time back, will share 🙂 It reminded me of Love Song Of J Alfred Prufrock by Eliot. Brilliant!

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    1. Wow, what a comment, Tanya! I am flattered to be compared with T.S.Eliot, one of the best poets ever! I love that poem and I have recently read many of his poems. I would love to know in which way my humble poem reminds you of Eliot.

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      1. I as a reader felt the same apprehension and the longing for love in the poem as in Prufrock, with old age creeping in. The intense desire to be loved yet self-conscious of growing age and the fear of being rejected by someone younger. Coming out of the shell symbolize acceptance of the feelings lurking beneath but the hesitation and fear of making a move still looms something I felt in Pruftock too! Existential in nature 🙂

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      2. What you say makes sense and it is exactly what I wanted to express. You could not have put it better. I am glad I have been able to communicate the main idea of my friend Mario Savioni’s novel “Pickles and Tarts”. That was my intention when I wrote this poem and it seems I have succeeded in doing so. I so loved Newton Ranaweera’s tortoise with his few lines about reaching freedom plus Mario’s excellent writing that I got the inspiration to craft this piece. I simply wrote it on the comment section as intended to be a poetic response to both Mario and Newton. They both liked it and Newton suggested I post it in my blog. Now I am intrigued by how Mario’s novel will continue to unfold.

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  23. Pingback: A RE-BLOG – Out of the Shell! – scribeforlove.wordpress.com

  24. Ah, Marta! This brought such a smile!!! Wow! I know You wrote this a while ago and I’m wondering what ever happened?!! Who can say what one should or should not broach….I’ve known women with much older men who were genuinely in love and happy. Go figure!!! Thank You and Cheers!!! 🤗❤️😊

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