He’s in the man cave
staring at the tube
occasionally laughing
When he emerges
he ignores her as she does
her thing in
her space.
He’ll walk past and head to bed
without a word,
and she’ll watch him in the hall
wondering whether
everyone feels lonely.
Shawn L. Bird 
Thank you for this, Shawn. Beautiful, bittersweet.
Thanks, Susan.
could this be the price of falling in love?
I suppose it could.
then let it be in poetry that you open your sails and travel to the Far Places – where muses are held in high regard and the poets are warriors worthy of a song
🙂
Excerpt form the Handbook for Muses
Care and Maintenance of Your Poet in Service
In as much as you have been asked
And in as much as you are considering accepting
The time honored position of Muse
By a Poet that has in fact offered his poetics efforts
Here are a few . . . guidelines
For proper care and feeding
Poets are creatures that often appear to be human
But be not deceived
They are not in fact human beings
And though the are often helpless and cute
Much the same can be said for puppies
Except that Poets typically don’t grow up
Poets are a fairly rare breed
And truly good poets are almost an extinct species
Poets are typically divided into two
distinct and different categories
The first being ‘The Poet in Fact’
This is a creature who’s native tongue is poetry
If you have such in your service
You can expect endless hours of entertainment
You can expect fanatical rivers of passion
And thought they can be a bit moody
They are worth the price
The second is called ‘The Vice-Versa’
The instant you suspect that your poet might be of this breed
Take them immediately to the nearest public park
or Starbucks
Distract them
And leave them there without a forwarding address
or email
or (perish the thought, never give one you cell phone number)
They may call and plead
But under no circumstances
allow them anywhere near you
All who have permitted them to come skulking back
Have regretted it
They are like cats
really bad cats
And if you refuse to feed them
they will eventually go away
You can expect a full refund for you Vice-Versa
But they can not be traded in on a Poet in Fact
In reality you should not trust anyone who would
plant a Vice-Versa on you in the first place
Enough of that
Once you have established
that you have actually selected a Poet in Fact
You might consider inspiring your poet to write
(Most poets write nowadays
on pads of legal paper
its so much faster than printing
But poets who type on computers are always suspect)
To properly inspire your poet
You must practice reading with a faint air of disdain
You should not reject all of his offerings
(the word offering is not used here by accident)
Not all of them anyway
90% is a good number
Because poet must be disciplined like collies
You must be firm
But if you are too severe
you will break their spirit
Find the proper balance for your particular poet
This may take several attempts
But don’t worry
Your poet won’t run off
Your poet will also be inspired by the strangest things
The way you hold your cup of Cappuccino Latté
The way the current presidential administration
has botched whatever things
the poet professes to care about
The curve of the sky
the book read last night
last Friday
The book they only imagine they read
Your poet must sometimes return
to their inner child
To remember what its like to see the world
as a child sees it
And there will be those memorable moments
When your poet says something truly remarkable
Something that you have wanted said all your life
and said in exactly the right fashion
Something that shows you what life is like
on a higher plane
And you will be tempted to . . .
Well don’t
You must never let your poet know you are satisfied
You are the muse after all
Never leave your poet out in the rain
They are like baby turkeys and will drown
in fact its illegal in 19 states and Porter Rico
Read anything your poet hands you
before you show your regal scorn
If you show disdain in advance
the poet will not grow properly
Poets are not mushrooms
And should not be left in the dark all the time
If you take proper care of you poet
You will never be bored
And will in fact gain the adoration
and offering as is your proper due
Good Luck
And remember the national Muse’s hot line
1-888-GET-BACK
Who wrote this? Is it your original work?
yup – my original work -i have been known to pen a few things – google “William C. Burns, Jr.”
You should be sure to sign it when you post it!
touching…
Thanks!
What a terrific poem!
Thanks, J!
When were you in my house? 😉
😦
Wonderful! Silence always doesn’t mean the lack of love. That can be the buffer required to realize how lonely we are or could be without the love we have.
Thanks for sharing such a thought here!
Thanks for stopping by, Mayur.
I could not do so, ever. Then again, i knew she was living on borrowed time.
👍
🙂
A poem about being married? Describes 90 percent of marriages today. Most women are so very lonely. Great post! Your poetry is very moving.
Thanks, Shell.
I think most people are lonely, at least some of the time.