The party
tests everything.
Everything you've been and done and thought and lived
since the last one.
And again
you fail.
And discomfort creates another space for truth.
Extrovert friends become enemy.
Life accelerates for them,
an oasis of delicious chaos.
Their eyes and bodies and spirits dance.
You are pleased for them.
I don't think people have changed at all Steve - just your perception of them. Maybe in the past you were talking too much yourself to notice. With age comes wisdom - for some peeps.
Yes, I like this poem. It chimes with my own feelings for / reactions to people generally in these uncertain times.
I particulalry like these lines ...
And discomfort creates another space for truth.
Extrovert friends become enemy.
One thing I increasingly find, as I get older, is that many people now simply talk too much. And their talk isn't conversation; it lacks the necessary pauses for interjection. Some people just seem content to empty their often (mundane) thoughts out to whoever will listen. It's a shame.
<Deleted User> (9882)
Thu 6th Jun 2013 20:54
hitting on part of Lauras comments-the last line-
suggest 'you are pleased and displeased for them?
great poem! well done Dave.x
Well, one can be both introvert and extrovert, depending on the day tbh. I know I can be both. Started out completely introverted, discovered booze, became drunken extrovert. Got older, fucked off with society, didn't need booze to be extrovert anymore. Still have times where I just need to be AWAY from all people - just talking is a painful activity.
That last line - are you REALLY pleased for them? It seems to carry some bitterness...or maybe that's just how I read it.
First two lines are fab, btw. Chockful of meaning.
A great topic for a poem Dave - I find the different way people interact fascinating.
I always thought that whether you were introvert or extrovert depended on self confidence - but have to come to realise that it's not the same thing - though it's hard to be a party animal when you lack confidence, it is possible to be confident in yourself but awkward socially - if that makes sense.
It just goes to show what complicated animals we are.
I like the contradictions that run through this - the fear of extroverts being tied up with being pleased for them.
All in all, very well expressed.
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Cynthia Buell Thomas
Fri 14th Jun 2013 13:09
This is a superb poem, with an outstanding two-line opener, punchy insight and well- turned diction. 'an oasis of delicious chaos' - delicious writing. I think it is the best of yours I have recently read - all of which are really good. These days, I find an 'edge' to your work which I didn't notice before. Which may have been my carelessness.
I do think 'you' can be 'pleased for them'. It is a generosity of character.