Unwanted Plus One
Delivery dampened by the weather,
A shining stamp, embossed on the letter,
Only one thing it could be, you'll see,
I want to go, but I have to take you with me.
If the choice was mine, it'd be another
Someone I admire, a friend, or lover.
Yet here you are each day, in the way,
A ghost to tolerate, a shadow to stay.
With another life I'd be surrounded with fun,
Instead, I'm stuck with you, as my plus one.
The invite was mine and for it I toiled,
Now the night is lost for you have spoiled,
The chance for me to be seen and held,
By my true love and the rest of the world.
The ink is dry, it can no longer change,
To another with whom I feel less strange.
One I love, respect and want to hear,
The person I truly want to be near.
If I could, then to them I would run,
Yet here I am, with my unwanted plus one.
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This reads like a heartbreak between oneself and its own shadow, an unwanted companion that clings no matter how brightly life tries to shine. Beautifully written, and painfully relatable from this part of the world.
We all change, some more drastically than others.
I understand the agony of someone who has to make due with a partner who's not half as good as the original person they intended to be with. Forced marriages is one good example. But love is a need, just like food or water and the wrong person won't meet our needs for love. The best thing is to be careful making the choice of who to be with in the first place.
And when there is no right person, because people expect perfection in the other today?
It is full of messages. It spoke to me because I know what it feels like to carry something inside that I didn’t choose. The idea of an “unwanted plus one” reminds me of those inner battles, like doubt or sadness, that show up even on days you want to enjoy. Many of us have to go through difficulties not that we choose them but through our actions and inaction we crawl into.
Isn't it strange how we see the negative experiences of us like a dark, unwanted passenger, but the positive experiences as if they are a part of who we are?
Once, many years ago, I had a hard time letting go of my loved one for a few days; I missed them terribly. But time passes and we change. Is there such a thing as eternal love? For eternal love, you must have an eternal soul.
There is no such thing as eternity for humans. It is incomprehensible. We think we can imagine infinity, but there is no way. It is the same as imagining nothing. Another impossibility.
I agree, a material body and eternity are incompatible. Within the parameters of our physical world, eternity is not inherent in any object.
It is easy to feel trapped with someone who doesn't bring the best to you, particularly when you were hoping for a different kind of relationship.
Or with someone who doesn't bring the best out in you.
Did she have to bring her 99 year old father?
Quite possibly :)
What is this poem really about?
In a therapist voice...
"What do you think it is about?"
:) I had a feeling that what I am reading is not what it is really about.