Alone

A choppy, and deep poem.

I have been walking
Alone
Not able to find
Someone who
Understands how
I work
Understands how
I function.

I have been talking
To people trying
To find someone
Who would
Understand
Me
Understand
My ways.

I have walked with
And I have talked
To many who
Lie and say
That
They understand how
I work
And how
I function.

My friends
Love me and
I, them
But,
They don't quite
Understand
Who
I am.

Many a time I
Have asked if
The way
I work
The way
I function
Is a malfunction.
It must be if
No one understands
How I
Work
Or how I
Function.

My loving parents
Took me to
Someone who forever
Changed my life
For the better.

He helped me to
Accept my
Self
To
Embrace who I
Am
To
Embrace how I
Work
Embrace how I
Function.

I began to accept
Who
I am
I walked
A little
Lighter
With my chin
A little
Higher.

I began to
Care
About what I
Did
Fixed how I
Acted.

I met
A girl who
Helped me
Smile
Again
Without her
Realizing it.

I finally had
A friend in
My lonely world
But, still
She didn't quite
Understand
The way I
Work
The way I
Function.

Another
Year or so
Later, she
Told me that
Someone
Liked me.

A lot.

Another few
Weeks passed
And still,
No one would
Tell me who
Liked me.

Finally, she
Told me
Who liked
Me.

So, naturally
We begin to
Talk
And not
Long after
I am
Joyed to know that
I am
Talking to someone
Who understands how
I work
How I
Function

I have finally
Found someone
Who understands
How I
Work
How I
Function.

I can walk with
I can talk
To someone
Who can really
Understand
Me
Understand
My ways
Understand how I
Work
How I
Function.

But,
Better still,
I am joyed
To have the
Knowledge that
I am not
Alone.

I am not
Alone.

Reviews

[Nigel Newman]

Clearly a well-planned and well-written work. I first of all thought the work function bit should change but as it continued I realised how central it was, and very soon concluded that its frequent repetition worked. The other thing I noticed was how you deliberately spread it over short lines, thus creating the impression of a long poem; I think this reflects and serves to support the journey through life over several periods for the person in the poem.

I was also struck by the middle part with 'your' parents trying to help. It reminded me, perhaps unfairly, of 'Left hand lost' by Dory Previn. It sounds as though, unlike Previn, 'you' have found a true way still in 'your' original skin. But along the way, with the best intentions, some may have tried to change 'you'. It's good that 'you' no longer feel alone.

Good job!
Nigel

[emipoemi]

Despite the presumed seriousness of the theme, I do detect a bit of absurdity in the works what with the constant repetition of "how I work, how I function". Whatever the case, this is amazing, and the lack of rhymes only made the suspected absurdity all the better. The line breaks and stanza breaks really added a frantic feel to it, like the ramblings of a blabbermouth trying to get a point across, and the stand-alone stanza of "a lot" was pure perfection. ¡Maravilloso! Well done!