"If you are lonely when you're alone, you are in bad company." --Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit, 1944
Plagues produce profound, prolonged solitude
For many humans, for many reasons:
Fear, fragility, neglect; attitude
Every life passes through its seasons
Some semblance of normalcy does return
When the worst of a plague seems to be done
And for most, this means that a need will burn
To return to the fold, for warmth or fun
Some, spared the crowd under strange conditions
Will not rush back, but savor solitude
Is that odd, considering the options?
A small, private plot can yield plenitude
Some will select their own society
A meal for one can yield satiety
About the Creator
D. J. Reddall
I write because my time is limited and my imagination is not.
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It Wasn't Surreal
“Surrealism: Pure psychic automatism, by means of which it is proposed to express, be it through writing, verbally or in any other way, the real functioning of thought; of the dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason and outside all moral or aesthetic concerns.” –André Breton, The Surrealist Manifesto, 1924
By D. J. Reddall5 months ago in Poets
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B. A. Durham’s False Memories blends dream and reality in a seamless mix. As his father, afflicted by Alzheimer’s, fades away, the narrator is haunted by a dream that may be a memory, returning to him insistently. The piece is full of wonderful detail (the father touching his lip where once there was a mustache, “but now he is clean-shaven—he has been for years” — and moving in revealing the complexities of a family’s life. A worthy winner which shows the power of dreams to influence us.
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Comments (7)
Oh, that's my jam. Plans got cancelled? Right on! (minus all the plaguing)
God I loved this so much! As an introvert, the lockdown was so blissful for me. Unfortunately, I didn't get to experience it because in 2020, I was an essential worker so I had to keep working. But how I wished I could just stay home. Even now, I have the strong urge to go live alone in a cottage in the middle of the forest, lol. Loved your poem!
Ah yes, the introverts who easily survived the pandemic, I among them. Super poem!
Gosh, I can relate to this so much. Loved it! ✨️
Introverts unite! But not together in a place outside of your home. Let's all slink to our own corner and revel in solitude. United. I can relate to this so much. Great stuff.
Well done! I love it!🥰
That is very profound. Great writing!