A STORY. 85. FOREVER ALONE

Forever Alone. It’s the last of the titles that drew you. Gap. Who Will Help? And then Forever Alone. You have no idea why those titles suddenly appealed to you, when you had planned to read love poems.

You decide to turn to the poem now.

https://elsasemporium.com/forever-alone.html

forever alone
a dog without a bone
a child without a home
a voice without words
a spring without birds
forever
          ever
                    alone

never
          with a match
forever
          a catch

hopes forever dashed
tires forever slashed
plans crashed    smashed

no take-off for these words
words never to be heard
like a bird
                    neck cracked
                    wings snapped

hope may spring eternal
but the kernel may not grow
spring may be too slow
if the climate is too cold
if the ice will not crack

hope may spring eternal
but despair oozes dark
          like clay
          quicksand
          bog
          mud
burying the kernel

hope may spring eternal
but please someone
help me tend the kernel
or no take-off for these words
words never to be heard
          like a bird
                    neck cracked
                    wings snapped

please someone
          help me to be heard

It isn’t what you had expected. You don’t know quite what you expected. Maybe someone pining for love, like a damsel in a castle, looking out a high-up window, Instead,

a dog without a bone
a spring without birds

a child without a home
a voice without words

hope may spring eternal
but despair oozes dark
          like clay
          quicksand
          bog
          mud
burying the kernel

This is darker than the damsel at the window, because you know that while she may be pining at the moment, her true love is coming soon.

And what about you?

no take-off for these words
words never to be heard
like a bird
                    neck cracked
                    wings snapped

You’re not Aristotle or Plato or John Stuart Mills. But there has been a place for your words. Year after year in your classes. And your three slim books, the fruit of your three sabbaticals, have been published (by your university’s press) and have even sold a few hundred copies - no mean feat for books of philosophy.

But what about

forever
          ever
                    alone

It’s peaceful being alone. Perhaps it’s that you have made your peace with being alone. You enjoy the benefits. You know there are not only benefits.

To be continued . . .
A STORY. 86. DOES HOPE SPRING ETERNAL?
https://elsaiselsa.substack.com/p/a-story-86-does-hope-spring-eternal

A STORY. ALL THE CHAPTERS ... UP TO NOW
https://elsaiselsa.substack.com/p/a-story-table-of-contents-up-to-now

Posted Oct 22, 2024