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Open Poetry #48
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OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa

0 posted 2012-11-17 12:49 PM



BLOTTING OUT
17  November 2012

I want to blot out.
Some people drink
to do this.
Others take drugs.
Although I take a glass
sometimes even two in company
mostly just
on special occasions
and when I can afford it,
I don’t get drunk.
I did once in 1967
in my own home
and it was so awful
I have never done it again.
I haven’t ever taken,
nor don’t now
nor won’t ever
take drugs.

So all that is left for me
is one of two things –
and I have done both today.

One is to lie
for hours
in the foetal position
in a catatonic state
as lifeless as a stone statue,
where nothing moves,
nor can,
nor wants to,
not even my thoughts
and I am hardly breathing.
This must be a foretaste
of what it is like
to be in the glorious
arms of death.

The other is to allow
that catatonic state
drift me into
a deathlike sleep.

Even now, my fingers
are typing something or other
and perhaps
one day
I will read
what they typed.

Owl

© Copyright 2012 Diana van den Berg - All Rights Reserved
jwesley
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-04-30
Posts 7563
Spring, Texas
1 posted 2012-11-17 09:59 PM


I don't drink, smoke or take drugs - never have the latter two. Had my share of binges, mostly as a Sailor, but now hardly anything at all other than a decent eggnog with rum or beer with pizza.

Even "curled up" as you put it, is a life-experience and leaves you thinking. And death - who knows what that is anyway? Maybe just another life experience on a different plane - after all, life is 4D, not 3D, it has to be if you believe in a soul and or "afterlife".  My is 4D for sure - I believe in ghost!

j.

Victoria
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Ascendant
since 2000-08-12
Posts 5869

2 posted 2012-11-18 09:22 AM


Like Jimmy I have never smoked or drank or did drugs either. Not really a party person I guess. My brother is a Deacon and he did all the above so go figure. The miracle in the family ha. Enjoyed your words.

A poem is never finished, only abandoned.
- Paul Valery (1871-1945)

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
3 posted 2012-11-19 08:06 AM


Thank you, Jimmy and Victoria.

Owl

luminosity
Senior Member
since 2005-11-18
Posts 813

4 posted 2012-11-19 12:52 PM


ah I understand this need, myself, no booze or drugs either, but...when I have that need, I play tetris....something about placing the blocks as fast as I can that wipes out what ever it was that was bothering me...notice I didn't say I dealt with whatever was bothering me, I just wiped it away......sigh....not the best practice but in a busy life...well it hasn't failed me yet
OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
5 posted 2012-11-19 03:32 PM


Thanks, luminosity, for your understanding reply.  I don't want to blot out often, but it sorta hits me hard when I do.  

I love playing Tetris (and Bubbles which is the same sort of thing) too.  They are the only computer games I enjoy or bother to play.  However, I use them when I am working late into the night and I am really on a roll and it is maybe 2am or 3am and I know I really ought to go to bed, but being a workaholic it is difficult to stop.  So I use Tetris or Bubbles (which of the two, depends on circumstances and how tired I may be) as a transition between stopping work and actually turning off the computer (a hard thing to do for me).  

Owl

Marchmadness
Member Rara Avis
since 2007-09-16
Posts 9271
So. El Monte, California
6 posted 2012-11-26 02:25 AM


I have never been a drinker or taken grugs in my life. I guess our other alternative is to turn within to comfort ourselves. I like to play Tetris ocasionally. Calms my nerves.
                                  Ida

Spiros Zafiris
Senior Member
since 2002-10-20
Posts 982
Canada
7 posted 2012-11-27 12:06 PM


..courage, Owl..! i understand..something must be bothering you or  you're very tired or both of the above..instead of the fetal position, i prefer lying down with my head  and shoulders on a cushion
..one thing i often say is: Eipomoni, Kouragio..(Patience, Courage)..>>spiros
~~

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
8 posted 2012-11-28 07:21 AM


Thank you, Ida.  

Thank you, Spiros, you are so right.  It is both.  Thank you for the advice and the Greek, too.  I have forgotten almost all the Attic Greek I learned as part of my degree, but I absolutely loved it passionately.  

Owl


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