The Man of the Fields

Posted by Dana Ginger on 11/30/2025 12:37:26 AM

He was kind and empty 

He had no breakfast, no diploma, and no direction

He had no recognizable achievements but a certain poetry in his manner of talking

He desired no ownership or property beyond that damn guitar 

He liked sleeping in the strawberry fields under the sun because home got too far to walk back to 

He liked kissing beautiful girls 

He liked making himself hurt just to feel something 

Sometimes he felt so much it became nothing at all 

 

He was a sad person, and if he resonated with you a little too much, a little too long, a little too deep

He would make you sad too 

But not violently sad, beautifully sad

The kind of sad that still allows for occasional glimmers of something new- a melancholic hope 

A flighty hope, but it was real 

And it would make him feel something  

 

So if you find him somewhere, wrapped in a blanket

Giving you a crooked, nostalgic smile

And he tells you he’s up for anything,

And he tells you that you don’t know how to live in the moment 

And he tells you he can teach you 

Reeking of substance and wasted talent 

And whistling a song that haunts you 

 

He’ll breathe you in. Tell you he smelled your new conditioner and compassionate intentions from a mile away.

Let his eyes pierce through you for a moment, and it will give him comfort

And it will dilute your joy and make you feel momentarily alive 

 

Remember the beauty of empty shells that have a little depth to them 

Hold him gently like a wounded bird, and nurse him back to health, and peel away his layers like an onion until you get to the good part.

He’ll disarm you and make you feel special. 

You’ll remind him that he’s real.

And if you get too sad

Tell him you wish him the best and that you’ll come by some other time 

And you’ll ask where to find him 

And he’ll have no answers

No answers, no breakfast, and no recognizable achievements


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