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Sunday, June 18, 2017

FULL FRONTAL LONELY




1.

You think that you've written down
the thoughts
that were lonelier
than all the thoughts
that were written down before you
or after you
but you are wrong



2.

I'm reading some poems by Jewel
(don't smirk--she's "intriguing")

I am told

I'm adored by millions
but no one calls

and one can only think
then...
what chance have I?



3.

Poets never say what they mean
they just expect you to figure it out



4.

Maybe
that's why you're alone
(even in a crowd)
as they've all given up 
on trying to figure you out



5.

Opaque
isn't that intriguing
to those who are searching
for the light



6.

 James Wright always told you
what his poem was about
right up front in the title...
he shared that trait with Degas
who would do a painting of
a dancer in front of a window
and name it "Dancer In Front Of A Window"


7.

While I sit lonely
by a fountain
where naked cherubs
are pissing away my dreams
knowing that collaborationists
stalk their own shadows
while pigeons goose-step
through the square--
but none can tell you whether ghosts
sit up and listen to the footsteps
that echo through an empty museum 



8.

And maybe if you search and search
you can find another poet
who has described the human condition as
full frontal lonely
but I'd like to think that one
is all my own


9.

And I am alone
as you are alone
as we are alone
imprisoned within these shells
straining to touch palms
through the glass



10.

...I have my books
and my poetry to protect me...

what I did
what I didn't
truly of no import now

after falter
before correction 
the man who seeks to make connection
finds the days of infinite possibility have flown
but only because a world turned deaf
and blind has deemed it so

the ego

in its fatal attraction to the body 
must always lose


11.

There now
no more whimpering
face it like The Man
monolithic in his solitude
as all mill about like ants
resigned to his fate
to go out in a blaze of glory
lighting up the desert sky
on a Saturday night
on a spinning blue pelota
somewhere
lost in space

26 comments:

  1. This masterpiece makes me feel less, and still more, lonely.

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    1. It's complicated isn't it? Thank you, Felicity!

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  2. Thank you for these deep expressions of loneliness.

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  3. Greetings from the blue spinning space pelota cat, friend TimFilmNoodleMovieBuff ... Please note for future reference that we are never lonely if we are open to craziness ... Love, cat.

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    1. ... but in any case ... dem grey cell up dere need food 4 thought, hmmm? Love, cat.

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    2. ...feed your head...feed your head...Grace Slick

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  4. This is an epic poem. Wow. A fantastic write, my friend.

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    1. Thanks so much, Sherry...always great to hear from you!

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  5. Thought provoking,moving, honest and endearing. This is the sort of poem one could have an all night discussion about.Loneliness is the poet's condition methinks probably because they are not surface dwellers and live in another dimension...some might say possibly belonging to another planet:) Enjoyed this immensely.

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    1. Thanks so much for that. I believe I've been asked a time or two what planet I was from--lol

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  6. This is such a lovely sequential poem, which i feel you have ended too soon, looking forward to follow ups

    much love...

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    1. Interesting...I thought maybe I rattled on too long!

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  7. I love #6 especially and sang # 9 to a Beatles tune (the walrus?). I too want to know if ghosts in the museum are real. I have always been aware of the lonely alone-ness (even as I click "I am not a robot."

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    1. Thanks, Colleen. Those ghosts are real, but you have to sneak into the museum after hours :)

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  8. got to appreciate the full monty on truth. really well done

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    1. If we all went for the full monty, the world would be a happier (and more naked) place :)

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  9. I so enjoyed the read, Tim. The way you broke up the parts is really well done - and I think we can take something from jewel as well as from James Wright. (Love that comment about Degas). I wish I had thought of the human condition as full frontal lonely.. that is an excellent comparison.

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    1. You are right, Kerry, and Jewel surprised me with her poetic talent. I've drawn on a number of sources here, including lines from Jewel, Simon and Garfunkel, and two of the stanzas are taken from previous poems of mine, giving them a new context to swim around in--something of a new life as it were. I think that is something I may experiment with and do more of in the future. All's fair in love and poetry, eh?

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  10. So many aspects in a form that remind me of the thirteen ways of looking at blackbirds... such a lonely world... but maybe we are made for being lonely in a crowd.

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    1. Walk through any crowd and you will notice that nobody is speaking to anybody else...except the couple wearing the T-shirts that say, "I'm With Stupid"

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  11. My goodness this is good!❤️ This is by far my all time favourite poem of yours till date. Especially resonate with; "Poets never say what they mean they just expect you to figure it out" and "And I am alone as you are alone as we are alone imprisoned within these shells straining to touch palms through the glass." Beautifully penned.❤️

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  12. I really enjoyed how this reads through - each separate but falling into the arms of the other, then coming apart again - definitely leaves one lingering, waiting, wanting more - but needing to walk away, in order to re-collect oneself. Truly interesting and definitely works through the universal thread of loneliness, but in an incredibly intimate way.

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    1. The way you took it apart and put it back together again...a very nice take :) Many thanks!

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  13. Clever write. There is much of note not said within the lines but where the overtones meet "beneath the knife" as it were. Much sociological explications, as well as literary discussions. When is language delegated to a gender.

    ตารางคะแนน

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