Sunday, September 7, 2014

IT'S LONELY IN SPACE


(Photobucket)



Last night I saw a play about a man
discontent in this world, 
seeking an alternate universe,
which he found in dreamlike state
within his mind,
then in chosen death.

Afterwards, over coffee, my friends and I analyze, 
like Jung and Freud dissecting a patient.
What made the man decide to leave?
What was hidden in his lack of life?

Was it his work? Was it his wife?
Is sadness a weed that grows thick, tall
with no cultivation?
Can it entwine itself around sight,
obscuring all light, defying
gravity of love that pulls
in opposite direction?

We had fun, hypothesising,
intellectualizing suicide.

Today, as I write, my memory jolts
to ghosts of those I knew, who left
because they felt they had no choice.
So young.  Potential strangled by despair.

I remember now, that one of my friends,
who loved the play, who spoke with animation
last night, never brought up the fact
that she was once engaged to a man she loved, 
a Rocket Man, who left her
to find another world.

I wonder if she still feels grief 
unparalleled in any universe.

"Now, I think it's gonna be a long long time
And I think it's gonna be a long long time
And I think it's gonna be a long long time
And I think it's gonna be a long long time"

 (Lyrics from "Rocket Man" by Elton John.)


The play I saw was "Rocket Man" by Steven Dietz.


(Submitted to Poets United.)

22 comments:

  1. Great piece! I started singing it and visualizing my own experience with that song.
    ZQ

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  2. it is tough when people leave this world for whatever reason... depression or desperation maybe - the loss of someone they loved - and the mention of the loss of your friend brought tears to my eyes...

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  3. Wow! And it's lonelier left behind, art and intellectualism aside. I think you capture that here.

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  4. Depresssion, loneliness and despair frequently team up. They don't play nicely and depression is a skilled and convincing liar.
    Wonderful post. Thank you.

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  5. Suicide is such a tough subject to talk about.. love the contrast between friends discussing it on an intellectual.. but only when we are lonely can we truly understand the rocket men...

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  6. i exchanged emails earlier with mary...her piece today is on suicide...and its a hard topic for me...i have intersected with it several times in my life...different people...some i was close with...and you feel so helpless when someone takes their life...as if you could have done something...or should have seen it coming...and you cant always...often you can in retrospect but...you cant see the end in the moment to give it a frame of reference....

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  7. Suicide is such a tragedy all around. My poem was about suicide today as well. We may think we know what causes another person's pain, but I would guess much of the time we are wrong or know only the surface!

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  8. Suicide is indeed a tragedy if one has reached the edge, and no recourse is available but to take one's own life ~ I have no personal experience with it, but I can empathize with the grief and sadness and what could have been ~ wishing you happy week Myrna ~

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  9. A thoughtful look at a tragic situation. Great poem.

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  10. Wow, maybe the grief is buried too deep for words. That would have been the time to speak of it.......what's the movie, Myrna?

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  11. I keep thinking of robin williams too . . . sad sad sad!

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  12. I miss Robbin Williams so much. Good poem, M


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= . <3

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  13. It is tragic to see that some people reach a point when death seems to be the only possible outcome. I enjoyed the way you tackled the issue, no unnecessary pathos in your words.

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  14. You never stop wondering and trying not to blame yourself for not being enough to keep that person here.

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  15. "Is sadness a weed that grows thick, tall
    with no cultivation?
    Can it entwine itself around sight,
    obscuring all light, defying
    gravity of love that pulls
    in opposite direction?" This is such a poignant poem, such a puzzle when love just isn't enough. Thank you Myrna for the many, many time's you've been by to say hello in comments. I miss all my poetry pals… and yet it is good to be busy and offline more. Maybe in a while as the days grow shorter again I will be around more in THIS alternate online universe. (that IS real, and so are the friendships we cultivate through the years)

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  16. Thankfully I have been spared knowing anyone personally who has committed suicide.
    I think some of it should really be classified as murder because not everyone is strong and some fragile people are driven to it by the cruelty of others.

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  17. several of my students had taken that path...it's so tragic...our mind is like the tip of an iceberg and it's so difficult to find out the cause for this aberration...thoughtful lines Myrna

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  18. There are some many serious issues presented here, yet what really sparked my interest was your poetic question linking the image of sadness to a weed

    Thanks for stopping over at my blog

    Have a good week

    Much love...

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  19. I wish I could find the right words to convey how this makes me feel. The use of prose, simple but impactful, painting a picture of happyness, sadness, memory...it's wonderful. Thank you for this piece.

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  20. This piece is very intense.

    Suicide is such a tragic mystery. Whoever can fathom the depths that make one choose to go? I only hope even against hope that none we know (or not know) chooses to plumb those depths.

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  21. take you on an interesting adventure about life.. can really feel it.

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  22. Such a difficult thing to deal with, some times we just have to step outside the emotions. Perhaps your friend can do that now.

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