A Little Change of Pace

Going for a little change of pace.

I used to write a lot of poetry. At one point, I was writing a haiku a week while waiting for the weekly Weight Watchers meeting to start. I stopped in the late by the end of 1999 for reasons I can't easily identify. I'm thinking of putting them together into their own book but that's still in the early planning stages.
For now, though, I thought I'd share a couple of them.

This first one was written when I realized that what I had hoped for wasn't going to happen. Yeah, I wasn't happy but I was dealing with it.

"Breakfast, 8/27/94, 9:03 AM"

Thoughts drift,
As if carried by a current,
Touching here and there,
Leading me to the truth
I had known for so long.
But for so long denied.

A dream of two together fades,
Adjusting to reality.
Two together still,
But never more than friends.

Understanding brings a smile to my face;
Better together as friends
Than not together at all.

(C)2015 Michael P. Dunn

Four years later...

I'm always doing things alone. I go to movies alone, I go out to dinner on my birthday alone, I live alone. One day, while eating dinner in a local restaurant, I started to think about what other diners might be thinking about the sight of the one person eating alone.

"Dinner, 8/15/98, 5:38 PM"

Have you ever noticed,
When you're eating alone,
The eyes of everyone around you
Seem to be focused on you?
There's sympathy on their faces,
And you can almost hear them think,
"Look at him!
He's eating by himself!
How terrible it must be,
Eating alone in this crowded dining room!
How lonely he must be!"

Maybe I like to be alone;
No hearts to be broken;
No secrets to be known;
No schedule to keep but my own.

Then again, no one to ask me how I am,
No face to wake up to in the morning.

(Can you really be alone,
If you like the person you're eating with?)

(C) 2015 Michael P. Dunn


Hard as it might be to believe, I was a lot quieter than I am now. I would never speak to anyone through grade school, junior high and high school. Once I got into college, that all changed. When I started working as a student aide, I met someone who brought me out of my shell. We've had our ups and downs over the years but she's probably - no definitely - the best friend I've got.

"Drifting Star"

My life was lit up by a drifting star
That had been there all the time.
(Odd that I had never seen it before.)
Each of us wanders through this life
As the world wanders through space
Where there is nothing but darkness
And nothing to do but drift alone.
(And being alone is the worst way to be.)

You appeared suddenly, without a moment's warning.
The task you chose was hard, but you succeeded;
You made me talk when there was nothing to talk about.
You seemed ready to accept me as I was

And accepted what I was free to give.
You listened to me and I to you
And we shared some time together
Just being ourselves.
(And being yourself is the hardest thing to do.)

Around us lies the entire world,
And beyond that, the whole universe.
I don't have the words to say how I feel.
You made me feel good for more than a day.
I just want to thank you;
You brought to me a little piece of happiness
That I never thought I could own.
(And being happy is the best way to be.)

(For Simone, wherever you go.)

(C) 2015 Michael P. Dunn