by Faith H.
Member since:
November 17, 2005

In Absentia

April 19, 2009 05:27 PM EDT
views: 131 | comments: 32

 

 

I’ve been talking to myself  lately
and responding a bit too slowly.

What could be done, had I the answers.
Give it up for the girl, a grand finale.

No more, no less, I ask myself  for what
And we’ll let it drift away quiet like.

See, no one noticed that I slipped out
and the room is no less for the absence.           

Pin a note to the door, be back soon,
And plan a late lunch and a long siesta.

 
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Comments: 32

Andrea Grenadier Apr 19, 2009, 5:38pm EDT
Hey, Faith *I* would notice! A fine and rueful rumination of your affect on people, as well on your own life. Masterful in that way, even more so, because of the quickness of the five short stanzas that gallop to their conclusion, and your disappearance. Very well done, my friend. Oh, and "quiet like" is crying for a hyphen!
Love from
a
Andrea Grenadier Apr 19, 2009, 5:39pm EDT
and by the way, that room would be paltry, airless, and dim without you.
Adelaide Adams Apr 19, 2009, 5:43pm EDT
Well you can have your afternoon nap but make bloody sure you come back afterwards! Isn't 'rueful' a fine word? and perfect to describe this piece. although i shall be a contrarian and vote for no hyphen. are the polls open?
Andrea Grenadier Apr 19, 2009, 6:08pm EDT
Hmm... well, then you might mis-read, and say, "Quiet like... what?" The modifier needs to be there for "quiet."
I think there are times we all ponder how much our absence would impact others. The way we've lived our lives (ie our actions, etc) and what we've left behind (not material possessions) determine much of how much we will be missed (or not missed) when we move from this world.
Hope you've enjoyed your siesta. I even enjoyed one of those today :) May your week be filled with laughter and love.
Vicky Duggins Apr 19, 2009, 6:14pm EDT
Don't leave - we would miss you, really we would!
Adelaide Adams Apr 19, 2009, 6:26pm EDT
good point Andrea.. what i liked about it being a separate word was that it sounded as though it's an almost apologetic addition as the 'voice', who suspects nobody's listening anway, fades away at the end of the line. as one word i wouldn't feel that. and isn't it a regional usage thing? because i'd certainly say quietly instead of either option here in an English speaking country ;)

(oh, and don't worry Andrea, Faith has far too much sense to listen to anything i have to say about poetry.. )
Duckie 1 Apr 19, 2009, 6:35pm EDT
Hah! I don't need notes on the door...I take naps in the middle of conversations and nobody notices, Faith!
John F Walter Apr 19, 2009, 6:36pm EDT
Great voice piece as self-talk about the disappearing self, how we drift away from our own sense of who we are or what we are doing when we notice after the fact how absent we have been to others. As so often in your keenly worded poetry, the trick in the vanishing act is all in the language. No victim here, but merely an observant magician distracting us from her exit.
Faith H. Apr 19, 2009, 6:46pm EDT
Ah dear friends, there are no immediate plans to depart, except as Duckie suggests, a long nap may be in order. John, as always, imparts the right tone, and I may add that it is always with poetic licentiousness that I leave these impressions.

To address Andrea's concern over the missing hyphen, I would continue with the loosely figured construct of a deep south indulgence of "quick like" not needing the politically correct hyphen.

Thank you all.
Bugger the hyphen, Faith! As you have it gives the sense of smoothly just slipping away unobtrusively whereas quiet-like is too emphatic for my taste. But then - thanks to banana smoothies - I'm, like, quite tasteless, like.

But I noticed you slip out of the room and suddenly it was much emptier without you. I saw the note on the door but it didn't say where you were going for the late lunch or I'd have joined you for a toasted Vegemite sandwich. So I also left the room and had a power nap ... and now here we both are, bouncing back.

Ten stars! I have featured this gem in the Chat & Connections Garden Cafe.
jessie voigts Apr 19, 2009, 7:49pm EDT
hi faith. having slipped away myself for months-long siestas, i understand. and yes, the importance of our friends cannot be overrated. lovely poem.
Andrea Grenadier Apr 19, 2009, 7:55pm EDT
I'm not politically correct, Faith, just a Southerner of the old grammar school! Much older than you. : - )
Adelaide, you make a wonderful point, and it's well taken by me! Luckily for her work, Faith is ignoring both of us!
Faith H. Apr 19, 2009, 8:11pm EDT
Andrea, dear girl, I am not ignoring, you make a valid point, I would correct it if I were so inclined and not so contrary. And as for age, I have more than a decade on you, young lady, much of it spent down heah on the coast.
Wilhelmine Estabrook Apr 19, 2009, 8:43pm EDT
Lordy. I wish I could say something profound, like all these other clever folks.
I giggled at "'...it is always with poetic licentiousness that I leave these impressions...." good for you.
Katrina Hall Apr 19, 2009, 8:51pm EDT
Lovely and gentle, Faith - a little rueful, maybe (I'm not good at critique, as you know) you go have yourself a lie down, quiet time, and come back with a grand smile!
Faith H. Apr 19, 2009, 8:58pm EDT
Wil, I am giggling also, thank you for catching that and no profundity necessary.

Kat! hiya, kid. I had that lie down yesterday afternoon and it was good. Today, my mind races, and this is why I culled this old piece.
Ron B. Apr 19, 2009, 10:14pm EDT
You are forever, that is my relative forever, etched in my mind as as a blondish, brownish, brunettish haired young woman is a printed, collared dress, smiling for the photographer.
OMG ... you have just spoken of the silent but on going and terribly difficult time that I am having with aging. Damn you have done this well!
elizabeth e. Apr 20, 2009, 5:52am EDT
Often, I am in absentia....the need to be by myself without the clatter of conversation. I think that's why I take long hikes or rides in the car. It's a time to regroup and find myself....not the self I present to others on a daily basis.
Faith H. Apr 20, 2009, 9:05pm EDT
Ron, dude, that was my original icon here, age 19, with a sly smile. Thanks, that's the way I remember myself too.

Liz, age is a bitch, I'm not handling it so good myself.

Bob, you know I'm one of those loners.
mona d. Apr 21, 2009, 11:56am EDT
my sweet, i can see that sly smile on your face as you wrote this. painful and stark, but with a bit of wry humor. again, you put so much into so few words...

oh magi - "bugger the hyphen" indeed!
Granny Janny H. Apr 27, 2009, 9:01pm EDT
Love the icon...I don't remember it.
Love the poem...but I want to put a question mark there. At least one. Maybe two depending on how I read it. (after answers and after what)
I have been absent and no one really notices. I resonate to this poem and to the siesta.
Now I blow a kiss and click away to Poet's Weekly Muse to feature your latest chef d'oeuvre!
Granny Janny H. Apr 27, 2009, 9:07pm EDT
You wrote this on my birthday...no wonder I missed it. It was my birthday...I was absent.
Now featured!
JOHN BECK Apr 30, 2009, 10:38pm EDT
I can't believe I didn't comment on this post! I guess it's obvious that I was impressed and inspired by it.
Faith H. May 1, 2009, 8:03am EDT
Jan, thank you for the feature!

John, you seemed to have picked up on something here, thanks!
Sheila Deeth May 1, 2009, 8:25pm EDT
Came over here from John Beck's poem. And both poems paint such real pictures. Haunting.
Kamran Qureshi May 4, 2009, 7:58am EDT
Hey Faith, your friends seem to think else wise about you, which is good, however I must say I have experienced this feeling myself, several times and at various stages of my life. It is very well expressed dear. Thanks for sharing!
Orby - Proud mother of two angels May 8, 2009, 5:39am EDT
Write happier posts please. That one just made me sad.
Faith H. May 8, 2009, 7:15am EDT
Sheila and Kamran, thank you for those kind comments.

Orby! I'm so pleased you stopped by, even if it makes you sad. Sorry dear girl, it was meant in a light hearted way.
Tonia, who hugs trees G. Aug 28, 2009, 6:01pm EDT
Interesting responses this one elicited in me - first the sadness of not being noticed, and then being intrigued by the possibility of being able to slip away. Excellent writing, as always.

(And I can't believe I missed this as well as other pieces of yours!)
Faith H. Aug 28, 2009, 8:25pm EDT
Tonia, dear, thank you, and you have a busy life and I publish so infrequently anymore so it is easy to miss. I miss too much of my friends' works here.

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