#4- A Collector of People.

Remembering a friend.

I've been thinking of, lately, 

After a conversation, Miss

Now past.

A friend I mentioned

Once or twice.

We'll call her R.

I think you know who it is.

It's been over three years, now

And I still haven't gone to see her.

Thought it was finally time, 

The other day.

But I just couldn't.   

Part from the pain.

Part from fear.

Thought about a conversation 

I had with R.

Around the time that I met her.

You see, I was 

Much younger, then.

"I'm a collector of people" 

She said, wiping the tears

In her eyes.  

"I like meeting all kinds of people,

And studying them,

And seeing them eye to eye,

Just learning what is it

That makes all of them tick."

And she went on 

To tell me stories

Of her many adventures.

About the many "people" she "collected."

About the friends she made.

In the most compromising 

Of circumstances.

And in the shadiest of places.

And in the darkest of hours.

And in all the in-between spaces.  

"You're a liar"

I thought, seeing the tears

In her eyes.   

"You've been meeting all kinds of people,

And clinging to them,

And going from guy to guy,

Just trying to survive

Off of men who are sick."

I don't know, 

If R knew.

What she was doing 

With the people she collected.

To her body,

With her body.

And what would come next.

But I've been thinking about her, Miss.

With a pain in my chest.

She was, in fact, 

A very good friend.

Whom I met 

In the most compromising 

Of circumstances.

And in the shadiest of places.

And in the darkest of hours.

And in all the in-between spaces.  

Author's Note

Feeling encouraged, with the reception I got for my first few poems. Going to try to experiment more now.

This was also originally a longer poem, but I decided to split it and publish the rest later as a different piece.

Reviews

[Allie]

The way you conjure up rhythm and pace is brilliant, you create an intriguing image of R. Love the repeated lines at the end of the poem.

[Ash]

Very engaging. I feel like I want to know more about this R. I want to understand the why, break her down and analyze her, but that could just be me. I tend to analyze most people.

[Paper]

No, no. She had that effect on people. Least of all, a younger version of me.

And I doubt this will be the last poem with R in it. I guess when I decided to try writing a poem everyday, I decided to turn this "series" into a sort of long form narrative about my current circumstances. And R has a bigger piece in this story that just what's above. Again, I already broke this poem up and condensed it.