*****

Recorded Reading (1:36): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ojeksivmt4vmb5xsdu0im/The-Lost.mp3?rlkey=jqt61ui10b3labdvdq9ghmg46&dl=0

*****

The Lost

Nobody smiles at them when they come home
Nobody happier to see them be
Than those old mindless banal repeat sitcoms
Recycling on the same household TV

Nobody thanks them for their loving labor
For endlessly unpleasant drudgery
Nobody notices their presence there
Just as they always have been there to be

When wanted, available, when not, invisible
Ignored, passed over, belittled, perhaps,
By all the home’s brighter and faster, colder,
Vigorously uncaring little chaps

Subject to routine disparagement
Bestowed by giggling lofty teenagers
About every personal mannerism
Or pleasure that despised person prefers

Faithful to partners who have grown so used
To their near presence that it’s going to take
The irremediable final loss
That partner of once more a treasure make

But why should we, when seeing this, feel badly?
What reason can there be to make a fuss?
In modern life we make so ordinary
Described here be very near all of us

*****

Until removal of the stalker/targeter/vandal/arsonist following her allows her to approach any landlord ~ even for a private parking space ~ and to begin once again to create professional connections and to rebuild her life, this poet presently lives homeless and at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level ~ still working to contribute to her society, however, seven days a week.

Arts patrons may visit http://www.UgiftABLE.com , using code #72D-31S. It does take several days for the poet to be notified of your patronage.

Thank you for supporting quality in the fine arts.