The Loneliness of the Last
Always exposed, never sharing the comfort
of between, you see only the departed
diminishing with each second’s passage, blurring,
shrinking, and finally blinking out, all points
erased in the null, an eye closing in the tunnel.
Or, inhaling the fragrance of an unseen orange
grove filtered through coal and thick, black
coils, you accept the limits of possibility,
known only by edges flowing past, lost
to touch and forever beyond reach in the draft
of the inadmissible. Departure defines
you. What lies ahead is not yours to embrace.
* * *
“The Loneliness of the Last” was published as a mini-broadside by ELJ Editions in February 2017.
“Trem Abandonado” by Rafael Vianna Croffi
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/rvc/29472173566)
O at the Edges 
Wonderful!!! I especially like “known only by edges flowing past”. Such a stunning poem!
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Thank you, Kimmie. I’m so pleased you feel that way!
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Your words always grab me, and as I wrote in a poem not so long ago, there’s only me now, and I wonder, “who’s left to row the boat”
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I know that feeling, Ivor. There are a few other passengers on my boat, but the numbers have diminished.
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Our personal diminishing world is a strange feeling, I’m ok, but you can’t stop wondering. Cheers, Robert
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Yep. Just keep wondering!
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So beautiful. A wise & lovely elegy… bittersweet, not defeated. Seasoned. Weathered. Stronger.
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Thanks very much.
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