Tangled

"How do I unravel you from my mind?
It’s like you’ve made a permanent nest;
Built from tangled thoughts and
Vivid memories the years don’t seem to shake."

I love the concept of this poem - the imagery of your mind wrapping that person in thoughts, it sort of implies that you're the spider and they're the prey in this scenario. I really love the imagery of permanent nest & tangled thoughts. It's beautiful and I wish I wrote it first.

"I’ve woven you into my dna, exquisitely,
So that I may live without you but
Never in your complete absence;
I’m not sure I have the capacity to do so."

I love the idea of them becoming a part of your dna - a part of them forever living on in you, even if they're physically not present. I felt that. We've sometimes have the luxury or misfortune (depending on how you look at it) of meeting people that just find a way into our lives and changes our life for the better and/or worse, they play such a big part of it whether it's their presenece or absence. This stanza embodies that sentiment.

"I see you in every fresh spring bloom,
Tulips coated in the softest raindrops;
In the downtown bookstore in my hometown
Where I once thought I’d meet you first;
From early October days to my pin number;
To tea parties, cabins, and Germany."

.... this is so beautiful, 'tulips coated in the softest raindrops' is so freaking soft & gentle & full of yearning. This stanza's beautiful, full of nostaglia, looking at everything through rose-tinted glasses, the reader cannot help but wonder when the other shoe drops.

"You’ve flooded my thoughts for seven years.
Or maybe longer, maybe I’ve lost count.
But I’m not angry that you’re still there;
I don’t cling to the same hope or dreams
Than I did in my younger days,
When you and I planned a world at our feet.
There is no resentment, no distrust;"

Again, I can relate to this. I love the idea of thoughts flooding for seven years, there's also verses that indicate you've moved on or attempted to move on, and that there's sort of an indifference when it comes to them. It's bit of a departure from what was expected - the earlier stanzas nudge the reader into thinking they wouldn't be able to move on, but this stanza moves on just like life does

"Only an appreciation words can’t truly explain.
There are traces of you in a lot that I do.
And I still smile whenever I hear your name
Because you made me feel accepted, loved.

How do I unravel you from my mind?
I may never know; but even after all this time
I’m still not sure I even want you to go.

A beautiful ending, it goes to show that people can find their ways into our lives, playing such an important role and we still can have a soft part for them years after things not ending well, not wanting to move on because it would mean coming to accept that it ended. There's a soft yearning in here that I can really relate to. This is beautifully written.