Notes About The Poem

S1's contest ~ In a World Where I Do Not Exist

In a World Where I Do Not Exist

There are visions roving inside my head 
of a time and place where perhaps I once lived.
But how do I know of those worldly things
if I no longer exist?  I must question if I ever did.
I am off kilter, as if I'm an invisible entity, 
a salty speck of foam floating on a sapphire sea.

Should I feel dire despair, indifference, or jubilant joy
that I am not part of this place that's been laid to waste?
It's as if I'm surfing in shadows over what used to be
an amusement park, but the Ferris Wheel is broken,
and there's no spark of life anywhere to be found.
Only faded pamphlets lying on the ground, sun-bleached
remnants of the way life used to be, once upon a time.
I pity me for having been given this gloomy glimpse,
a vandalized view that no one could misconstrue.

I feel like Alice wandering through a frightening fantasy.
Desperately wanting to go back through the looking glass
and forget the devastation in which the world dwells.
If I ever had an inkling of what living in hell would be,
then in this chaotic clime, this dysfunctional dystopia,
I would seek to escape my existence and set myself free.

I feel the need for fresh air, but who would care
if I should have lived or died?  No one cried tears for me.
What future fate have I discovered with thoughts
hovering? Tragic thoughts that haunt me like a cold stare.
What ill winds have swept the world away?
Cursed be! 
How can anything exist is this sorrowful sepulcher?
I'd rather be a soulless specter without a home
then live among those in this lamenting land.
This is not Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

It does no good to imagine a world without me.
Friendships made; children born; none of those would exist. 
I can only envision these things. These things that I've given wing. 
They roam inside my head, making me wonder if I had a beginning
or an end. I feel repercussions from having a discussion 
with myself over the conceptual conundrum of my existence.

Would I have been happy, would I have made others happy, 
or brought them grief like the thief who collects the dead?
It's a nightmare of reality, for I am sure it's not a daydream.
Greed played its Trump card and schemed to sit on the throne
in a kingdom I could never contentedly condone. 
I've no desire to dally here a moment longer, and
since I don't exist, I am certain I will not be missed.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2024

Poem

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Beaufort Avatar
August 13, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Lin, this gets me thinking about my place in the world and how minimal it really is. We have a chance to touch the lives of those we come in contact with as well as our families. We hope that it doesn't get ruined so that future generations can enjoy the gift given to us. It's tough to think back and to imagine where this is all going, but you honor us all with your thoughts on the subject and with your humility. Funny ending that is a sad comment on the current state of affairs. Sending smiles!
Lane Avatar
August 13, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Quite honestly, Duke I'm not sure where the impetus came for writing some of these lines, but they were open and a slap by reality. I appreciate your kind thoughts and praise. Glad you liked the ending. HA HA I wasn't sure how to end it, so I gave up the solemnity and bit and chose a bit of humor. 🌹
Sidwell Avatar
September 8, 2024 at 10:34 AM
Congratulations on your win! Truly a well thought out and well written piece!
Lane Avatar
September 9, 2024 at 4:50 AM
Thank you for your thoughts, Robert.
Goldsmith Avatar
September 7, 2024 at 10:06 AM
Back with Congratulations on your win. I enjoyed reading your wonderful write again. Have a blessed/fun day with your win......................
Lane Avatar
September 9, 2024 at 4:49 AM
Thanks so much, Paula.
Jones Avatar
September 7, 2024 at 8:32 AM
Wow this is so well written! I love how you ask questions that draw us into the poem! Congratulations on your win!
Lane Avatar
September 9, 2024 at 4:49 AM
Thank you very much, Karen.
One Avatar
September 7, 2024 at 7:37 AM
You captured the theme really well and I can feel the angst in your words, if you did not exist... Congratulations on your first place in the contest..
Lane Avatar
September 9, 2024 at 4:49 AM
Thanks for feeling the emotions I was trying to convey. I appreciate a place on your winning list.
Kavanagh  Avatar
August 30, 2024 at 1:03 PM
You certainly put a lot of thought and work into this world where you don’t exist Lin, its an extremely difficult premise to get one’s head around, but you did a great job here using abstract concepts of non reality, (a salty speck of foam floating on a sapphire sea) reminds me of how scientists using the inflationary model of the universe, theorise how our Big Bang came from a tiny speck that broke away from eternal inflation, serendipitous perhaps but a powerful equation nonetheless, your onto something big here, love it, cheers David
Lane Avatar
August 31, 2024 at 5:21 AM
Maybe I gave too much thought to what I wanted to say in this one. My first idea is what I decided to write about. I didn't want to feel left out by never having been part of a beautiful world... the way it once was, so I painted it more realistically as it has become. That's a somewhat sorrowful way to describe our Earth, but it's hardly the utopian planet it was so many centuries ago. More's the pity that we've tortured her, so it's by our own undoing that greed has overcome the need of necessities. And now you have me singing the theme from The Big Bang, where some believe it all started... just some. Thanks for reading to the end of this novelette, David.
Edmonds  Avatar
August 30, 2024 at 12:39 PM
Dear Lin, the world would be surrealist without you in it. A marvellous write… Beryl
Lane Avatar
August 31, 2024 at 5:26 AM
Dear Beryl, you are one of the sweetest ps people on the site. I've never read a word from you that wasn't complimentary. You are appreciated. Hugs.
Rodgers Avatar
August 30, 2024 at 11:36 AM
Dear Lin, At first I said that there is no way for Lin not to exist. LOL! I loved this exploration of existential uncertainty and the contemplation of one's place in a dystopian world. You ask so many great questions of existence, reality, and the nature of consciousness. - Blessings, My Dear Friend, Daniel
Lane Avatar
August 31, 2024 at 5:25 AM
lol Daniel, our minds are like baseball players. Sometimes they pitch to us and sometimes they're out in left field. Strike outs, errors, an occasional home run, but give me some cracker jacks and I'll sit through a game. Thanks so much for liking my thoughts. Perhaps I do exist.
Cunningham Avatar
August 30, 2024 at 10:27 AM
You take the reader on a helter skelter of a ride Lin through, reality, fantasy and dreams. Brilliant writing from your gifted pen. Tom P S, are you still here.?
Lane Avatar
August 30, 2024 at 10:46 AM
After writing this, Tom I'm not sure if I was ever really here. LOL Love your question and your comments. Thank you for seeing what I tried to perceive as being nonexistent... I think.
Goldsmith Avatar
August 30, 2024 at 10:09 AM
What a wonderful write with a creative start. Oh yes, Alice will we ever find her in our fantasy??? Hahaha!!! Oh yes, you would be missed. No going anywhere but here for us to read. Enjoy your weekend with blessings.......................
Lane Avatar
August 30, 2024 at 10:47 AM
Thanks, and awful lot for you kind review and compliments, Paula. You are always such a happy person, and I truly adore your visits and a happy weekend for you, as well.
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