You Brought Out My Best and Worst Selves

Summary

The poem reflects on a poignant and emotional reunion with a past acquaintance through the imagery of a thunderstorm.

Abstract

The poem "You Brought Out My Best and Worst Selves" delves into the speaker's deep longing and mixed emotions upon 'seeing' a significant person from their past in the form of cloud formations before a thunderstorm. The speaker describes an intense moment of connection, visualizing the person in the sky with physical attributes matured over time. The poem captures the bittersweet nature of the encounter, set against the backdrop of a changing weather forecast that mirrors the speaker's fluctuating hope and sorrow. The use of weather elements like lightning and rain symbolizes the clarity and emotional release that come with this unexpected 'reunion.'

Opinions

The speaker harbors complex feelings about the person, indicated by the title's mention of both 'best and worst selves.'
There is a sense of nostalgia and unfinished business, as the speaker is deeply affected by the imagined reunion.
The poem suggests that time has a transformative effect on people, as evidenced by the physical changes in the person visualized by the speaker.
The speaker finds a profound connection with the person even years later, as the mere thought of them brings a strong emotional response.
The weather is used metaphorically to represent the speaker's inner emotional state, with the thunderstorm symbolizing turmoil and the partly sunny forecast reflecting hope and resilience.

A poem

I’ve been laying in the grass for hours, hoping I’ll see your face in the clouds.

Just before the last thunderstorm, I looked into the sky and felt a jolt of nervousness, like we’d locked eyes, yours mud-colored and smiling. It was the first time I’d seen you in years.

Lighting flashed. You became clear.

You were taller, broader. Your patchy beard had finally filled in, just like you told me it would, one day.

I just didn’t think the “one day” would look like this, standing in the middle of the street, rain dropping from the sky as if God was crying with me.

This morning, the weatherman said a thunderstorm was coming. By afternoon, my weather app said it’ll be partly sunny but I still have hope, enough to soften my heels into the grass and smile at the sky as the clouds blurred.

You Brought Out My Best and Worst Selves

A poem

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