Joseph Adler Poet Free verse

The Sadness

when was it
the sadness?
did I tell you to forget it
or was it just like the burden
of a thinking man
that thinks before and after
he speaks
who has to open doors without
doorknobs
and when did I realize that everyone
was not as far away
as i
and began to feel that
awful alone
the stranger in a crowd of
friends
it is an alien world
that keeps me here
   and understand
     please understand
i often crave
the grave of alone
for it is there
among screams that travel
unnoticed to you, lover,
that i must create rains
for uneasy volcanoes
  and it’s no fault of anyone
    this quiet torment
that forces pen to paper
that sports thought too
sharp to be accepted
  it’s no wonder
    i am cut within 
for i have accepted what others
call impossible
please, my lover, my
other alone
it’s a wall i must destroy
  oh god
perhaps it is hard for you
to understand it all
at times i wish i were
ignorant 
full of blind passion
with no-one to bother
   i want you 
     to know me all
and i know you cannot
and i cannot
but i will never let go
for it is beauty
and beauty with neglect
grows cold
like an unfed fire
i cannot hide my mind
   and yet
the bars i see about me
are perhaps bars 
to keep me out
from understanding the
 simpler things
  the quiet things
    the peaceful.
yes, i am a hard man
who wants all that is
near impossible 
who spreads himself free
among so many habitual ideas
and it is hard
     for me
        for you
to break so many habits
to bring so many tears
but what can I do
my woman
but tell you that the love
is there
in places left silent
there is that singular you
and everything to share
  not drugs
    not words
       but minds
perhaps i never lived 
inside
but always existed
outside you
and its not enough to say 
“all right”
    but to say
       “we’ll try.”

copyright 1972 Joseph Adler

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment