Warning: Today’s poem is not so bright and cheerful, but I’m sharing it because it demonstrates the range of topics of the poetry of my youth.
Troubled
Chandra Lynn (Age: 15)
Troubled,
the man killed himself–
not physically.
He stopped living.
He fell out of love with himself.
He fell out of love with life.
No one understood him.
No one cared.
He lived in seclusion,
a place of total isolation
and that is where he died.
No one knows the world he lives in
or how to bring him back.
Those who know him–
They know not what to do.
All they want to do is see him,
hear him,
touch him,
love him.
This poem is a little scary for me. I had planned to post it some time ago, but put it on hold because it felt so dark. But, now it feels “prophetic.” Even though I wrote it many, many, many moons ago, I have a beloved mentor who is in a similar situation. He abruptly and inexplicably cut himself off from all who know and love him. All attempts to draw him out have failed. Considering the “life of the party” he usually is–both socially and intellectually–it is painful to imagine him in this state. Prayers, please.
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Positive thoughts for your mentor. There is certainly a place for dark poetry (catharsis, reflection), but no one wants to see that pain in real life. Oddly, I was reading a Pablo Neruda poem today in which he laments all the little virtual deaths and half-hearted resurrections we go through as we struggle along (“todas las falsas muertes y las resurrecciones”). Your mentor is lucky to have you shining a little light toward his darkness.
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Thank you for the positivity and perspective. “No one wants to see that pain in real life.” Exactly. I have a very THICK collection of Neruda’s poetry. I’ll see if that poem is there. Thanks for that too…Are you still in NOLA?
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It’s from “The Heights of Macchu (sic) Picchu.” Yes, cut my hitchhiking trip in central Mexico short to come to Nola and scramble for docs to secure a sudden university job offer in Tokyo. Wish me luck 🙂
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Oh, wow! Good luck!
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Speaking of Neruda, darkness, and light, found this saved to my camera roll: WE NEED TO
SIT ON THE RIM
OF THE WELL
OF DARKNESS
AND FISH FOR
FALLEN LIGHT
WITH PATIENCE.
-PABLO NERUDA
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No one is like Neruda for transforming an abstract philosophical point into something intrinsically concrete 🙂
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You remind me of how little we can know of other people’s inner selves. I hope he comes back from his darkness.
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Me too.
Thank you!
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Prayers for your mentor. May the Lord be with him and I’ll him out of any dark place he might find himself mentally and emotionally.
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Thank you for prayer and blessings…
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Praying. (And a moving poem, by the way.)
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Thank you for this Chandra. You are a generous, kind friend. Sending prayers. 🙏🙏🙏
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