He's just a nondescript dude
more polite than most
no need for posturing
at this stage of the game
The one he's not playing
Saw him at the theater
saw him at the school
saw him at the cafe
in the booth
so calm and cool
Think you're a tough guy
and he looks like a pushover
maybe have a little fun
maybe heap some abuse
but you've just drawn to
the worst hand of your life
with the one you never should choose
Talkin bout the man with nothing to lose
Your woman
your job
your booze
will keep you playing the game
by somebody else's rules
and you'll always stop short
of the things he might choose
That man with nothing to lose
Who knows when
the proverbial straw
came into play
suffice it to say
that life has been exposed
as a game for fools
and he is no longer playing
by anyone's rules
When life's no longer
what it seems
you walk along in a dream
a slow motion movie
where there is no sound
and people's eyes appear
to be screaming
and you wonder
in a curious way
if it has anything to do
with you
Saw him at the theater
saw him at the school
saw him at the cafe
in the booth
so calm and cool
And afterward
the afterword
is how did we fail him
but that's easy because
day by day
and each and every day
we shuffle along in a dream
where we wanted to reach out
we had it in our minds
to reach out
we had it on our agenda
to reach out
we had it on our calendar
to reach out
but somehow
we just didn't
and so it's easy to discern
just where we went wrong
my friend
cuz day after day
and each and every day
we
have
all
failed
to
love
ouch. Well told, strung along down to its inevitable self-conscious incrimination of the one who knows and doesn't do. Worse than not knowing and not loving is the delay of love.
ReplyDeleteman, i feel like taping this to my forehead to remind me. or i guess better yet, the insides of my eyelids. yeah we all planned to, but somehow we just didn't. but so much to lose! argh.
ReplyDeletebut we never took the time to actually do it...there is a huge gap between us...each of us...ever growing as well it seems...we have forgotten many things...like how to love...nice write man...
ReplyDeletethoughtful true and and sensitive.this is what leads to, among other things, either suicides or massacres.
ReplyDelete... we have all failed to love.This is the ultimate failing, isn't it? It's really all we're supposed to do. Your poem has great value in reminding us of this.
ReplyDeleteYah ...
ReplyDeleteHmmm?
DeleteYou've nailed it, kiddo. It's what makes all the talking heads sound so hollow every time there's a tragedy....all the talk of "so this never happens again".....but we all know - it will happen again. Great write, Timo. Love the way it drops down the page to the closing one word lines.
ReplyDeleteLove fails...I have been there. Love no matter what form it takes romantic or otherwise hurts when it is over. Great write!
ReplyDeleteWhen you give love, you recieve love... even if it is simply your appreciation... for that which you had given.
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ReplyDeleteAwww! This makes me feel so sad! But so perfectly composed, as always, Tim.
ReplyDeleteHi … Love, cat
ReplyDeleteYou get it...because that is often all it takes.
DeletePeople could be fighting a battle you know nothing about. Kindness is free and, on a good day, may help more than you know.
ReplyDeleteExactamente, Rommy!
DeleteThis is an apt description of the turning society has made, away from connection......I am most struck by
ReplyDelete"you walk along in a dream
a slow motion movie
where there is no sound
and people's eyes appear
to be screaming"
And, yes, sometimes a smile and a friendly "hi" can make all the difference.
Isn't it ironic, Sherry, that in one way we are more connected to each other with all the technology, but on the other hand typing words upon a screen is not an intimate connection. There is a great degree of intimacy that is lost between reading someone's text and hearing their actual voice!
DeleteSensitive folk suffer more than most.It is not a mental disorder to be sensitive although it may be considered to be by health professionals nowadays.Life is ruled by the ruthless and I think it is perfectly understandable that anyone would not want to share life with them on the same planet. Having said this it should remain imperative to stay alive and functioning so you can outlive all your enemies, the ultimate Texan salute:)if you are lucky you might even stumble across a kindred spirit from time to time. If not the best things in life are non ambulatory on two legs anyway.Your poems are interesting and 'real'.
ReplyDeleteStay alive so you can outlive all your enemies. LOL I will consider that to be the key phrase in your mission statement!
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ReplyDeleteIt seems that people so easily get caught up in their own agenda that they miss what may be around them. Like a person that just needs a smile, caring ear, or to know they matter.
ReplyDeleteSpot on, Carrie.
Deletethe care for others
ReplyDeleteoften seen as selfism
a souls silent act
__ If we care not... for ourselves, we cannot extend that care to others; the "silent successes" of given love, are the only trophies sought.
Silent successes...I like that. The unspoken things that are understood with the heart and not the ear.
DeleteMy question: can love be measured by its receipt of it? or do we measure in degrees of given freely?
ReplyDeleteThis I pose and ponder after reading your poem Timoteo
much love...
Good questions, Gillena. I think we must measure in degrees of given freely. If not given freely, is it really love?
DeleteHi there Timoteo, it seems a long time since I read you! And yes, great write. Can often be scary how life can just slip us by meaninglessly, if we let it... This is a topic I've tried to address and write about too recently... With Best Wishes Scott
ReplyDeleteGood to see you again, Scott!
DeleteEven with nothing to loose, he still does nothing... alas... and that's when he found that there is always something deeper below.
ReplyDeleteAlways appreciate your participation. Have a poetic day!
DeleteIt does seem like the man with nothing to lose can more easily avoid the rules of others.
ReplyDeleteCertainly so. We only follow rules because there is something to be lost if we don't.
DeleteDon't be so hard on yourself, if you thought they were the right one you'd have known it. There's lots of fish in the sea.
ReplyDeleteInteresting what different people get out of this :)
DeleteThank you for letting me revisit this piece. I still say kindness is something we could all be doing better at.
ReplyDeleteAnd it shows these days, doesn't it?
DeletePassing peoples' eyes that are screaming really speaks to me.........I saw a HUGE number of shooting deaths from just 2019 - over three hundred? - somewhere.......we are so sadly awry, I dont know what it will take to turn things around but I suspect it will be cataclysmic.
ReplyDeleteSherry--We may need to reboot and start all over again.
DeleteSounds like a recipe for disaster.
ReplyDeleteSimmering on the stove as we speak...
Delete