The Lonely Wanderer

A "Man" travels the world, observing everything, both good and bad.

I Wander throughout halls of life, my eternal vigil.

My travails have left me destitute of compassion,

For I have witnessed all of what humanity is capable.

I have been present for the greatest triumph's,

And for the worst defeats of this place.

I have felt Hope and Despair, Joy and Sadness throughout my wanderings...

The depth of human feeling has dulled my mind,

To the point where I feel nothing but nothing,

And I begin to wonder what I'm doing here.

I've wandered the earth for centuries, 

Experiencing everything it has to offer.

Perhaps I have no place left here, wandering aimlessly,

Perhaps I should move on to somewhere, anywhere,

But here...

Author's Note

This is a poem I've wanted to write for a while, so here it is. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. ;)

Reviews

[micky]

This piece hit home for me,I have felt these feelig more often than sometimes...I loved how you lined it and expressed yourself so well also you can hear the douhgt towards the end which is real coz life is all about dought and questions.

Well done

[Lovecraft]

Thanks, Micky. ;D

[j.a. mills]

I have read this poem from many different perspectives, and the one I like the most is from that of a cloud. I'm not sure that it is in some way ekphrastic of Wordsworth's "I Wander Lonely as a Cloud" but it echoes it a bit in some of its tendencies (like capitalizing Hope, Despair, Joy, and Sadness). What that also means is that it has some big shoes to fill. I think it gets close. "To the point where I feel nothing but nothing" is a cool line. The opening line is odd, and doesn't correspond with the last line: if this thing has been set as a watchman, he wouldn't be lost. I think the poem was over after the ninth line, considering tenth and eleventh are kind of summarizing everything else. The last line is interesting, and I think would be nice as the first line, which I would scrap. I am going to give it another few reads from the perspective of other things and let you know if I find anything else.

[Lovecraft]

Thanks, dude. In hindsight, I have to agree with you about the first line, it does seem a bit oddly placed.

Try to look at it through the perspective of an immortal sage type character who is cursed to wander the world for eternity to observe Humanity and all it brings to this world.

[Lovecraft]

Also, I think I will edit it slightly based on your feedback, so thanks for being honest about what you thought about this poem. :)

[j.a. mills]

Ah, okay, that changed things a little. That made the thing's voice make a bit more sense, because it seemed like he was under the impression long ago that he could help humanity but is beginning to think that his curse is both having to wander the earth forever, and to watch the slow demise of humanity... sucks. If that's the case, I think (I am NOT suggesting things to add to your poem, I think it sacrilegious to edit another author's work) an interesting avenue would be to suggest the futile efforts this entity has done to try and help humanity. Please do not edit anything because some stranger with an opinion told you to consider it. Any edit should be motivated by your own desire to do so. I am just giving you things to consider.

[Lovecraft]

I realize that and will take it under advisement. Perhaps I'll write a "Sequel" to The Lonely Wanderer. Still, thanks for suggesting some themes I could explore later on in more depth.

;)

[Melissa Kester]

I love this piece. It's as if he had been on earth for so long there is just nothing left to see or experience . it's so tragic.

[Lovecraft]

Thanks, that was mostly what I was going for.

[Dr. YumnaKay]

"The depth of human feeling has dulled my mind,
To the point where I feel nothing but nothing,
And I begin to wonder what I'm doing here."
I feel the same.. Sometimes you've felt so much that you feel like you've reached the breaking point..
I really like this piece.. It's dark and depicts that feeling we all feel at one time of our life.. Good work 👍

[Lovecraft]

Thank you. By the way, the narrator isn't human...

[Dr. YumnaKay]

You lost me here.. It says "man"? Who is it then?

[Lovecraft]

That's for you to decide... ;P

[Dr. YumnaKay]

Lol spooky 😛