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Triad of Emotions

Keeping it simple

By Joe LucaPublished about a year ago 3 min read
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Pixabay Image - by Alexas_Fotos

Lonely Is a Word

Lonely is a word most of us

steer clear of – for fear it might

latch on and not let go.

Like saying it aloud or writing it

on a post-it will make it so,

and God that’s one thing we’d rather not be.

Lonely is a feeling that is heavy

and viscous and clogs the pathways to

our heart like cholesterol and yet

there’s no pill to make it go away.

Or a headache with an empty bottle

of aspirin – as it pounds out a rhythm

that no one can dance to and leaves

us empty in a corner of the room -

Waiting for the music to stop.

Hope

Hope rang my doorbell this morning.

Dressed up because it was Sunday. Holding

a small black bag filled with leaflets,

and brochures about vacations spots

where the weary could mingle and

find good reason to smile again.

She was nice and polite and asked if she

could come in. I said, I’d rather talk outside

in the sunlight. That all things considered,

I was doing alright. No need to worry. You can remove

me from whatever list I got myself on

over the past two years. Things are better now.

She thought that was grand. Though her

smile was weak and all too knowing –

like she had seen and heard the false high

before and knew when wishful thinking

was being mistaken for her.

It’s your own fault, I said deliberately, the way you

come and go. We need to cling to something,

when you’re not here, and if it’s not you,

what can it be?

Wishful thinking’s not such a bad thing, when

the hurting is high and the laughter in short supply.

She handed me her business card, said

she’d written her personal number on it.

To call anytime. That she’d been busier than

usual lately and was just starting to catch up.

I said – well, that’s hopeful. And we both had a

good laugh.

Love

Love’s a word we say too often, like please

and thank you; it slips out on its own

and enters the conversation like one

comma too many. We stop seeing it.

Too busy nodding and smiling and putting

the groceries away as Suzy bangs out

Bohemian Rapsody on the piano.

It’s lost the old Shelley and Byron panache.

The quaint – if moonbeams kiss the sea –

What is all this sweet work, if thou kiss not me?

The pounding of the heart as its embodiment

walks through the door and casts a hungry eye

upon you – breaking your resistance, like an

bullet through Hadrian’s wall.

Is it not passion that we long for? It’s willing

cohort, wrapping an easy arm around you, whispering

softly as you edge ever closer to the abyss, eyes

lost in expectation as the ground gives way,

and the raging waters below welcome you within.

Yes, all poetry, love is. And common sense.

And snow tires on icy roads. So, we don’t find

ourselves nose first in a drift, humming

Norwegian Wood, while AAA pulls us out

by our feet.

Excerpt from Love's Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Norwegian Wood, of course by the Beatles.

sad poetry
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About the Creator

Joe Luca

Writing is meant to be shared, so if you have a moment come visit, open a page and begin. Let me know what you like, what makes you laugh, what made you cry - just a little. And when you're done, tell a friend. Thanks and have a great day.

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

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Comments (1)

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  • Novel Allenabout a year ago

    Top story material. Ah! Vocal. Touched my heart. My sentiments exactly. Loved it.

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