The two give up eventually.

I extend my hand

but your eyes

face away

and my words

bounce off the screen

scrambled by ads

for pre-paid funerals.

It is possible, I know,

to have arrived

so far ahead

no one can reach,

much less connect.

It is impossible, I know,

to now retract, unlearn,

revert back to a thing

of worthless triviality.

We share a couch

but my eyes stare

out the window

and my hand

clutches philosophy

and your eyes

fixed on the screen

and your hand

wrist-deep in popcorn.

Reviews

[. serah .]

-- oh, this is an extremely cinematic depiction of a brutal disconnect between two individuals... -- to me, it seems like one of them is stagnating and the other cannot help but evolve... -- when i was studying brainwashing (mind-control techniques) in cults, i read that the cult leader almost always says, "surrender. give me all your problems. look at me. don't think about anything else." ... much the same happens when people are addicted to watching t.v. ... and i also read that people who get brainwashed easily are people who don't have 'critical thinking skills'... so, when i read this post, and saw the narrator's connection with philosophy, i could see that the narrator has the ability to think while the other person is completely consumed by the "screen"... -- for almost seven years, i tried to explain to someone (with insightful information) that he wasn't thinking and i failed... -- he was in a cult and i wrote about cults and brainwashing... but he just didn't get it... -- it's baffling how we live in the same world but view things differently... -- some of us "surrender" to someone or something else and some of us like to "think"... -- excellent work... i relate to it very deeply...

[Elise Anton]

Thank you for the amazing summation! And you are perfectly correct when you say "surrender". I have friends who - it feels like they are sucked INTO the TV.

We have a very rich and successful friend in the family. He said something to my boys several years ago and it has stuck with me. He looked them in the eyes and said "If you want to achieve anything in your lives, you need to be able to think critically. No one thinks any more." He also told them that those in high deman in the future will be the ones with the ability to think critically. Added too, that the demise of the middle class will come about because of this...

BTW the above happened.

Your examples are so sad! Thank you so much for reading and sharing.

[. serah .]

-- you're very welcome... and thank you for such an empowering and insightful reply as well... -- yes, things were very sad... but all that is over now... and i'm so relieved... -- i'm looking forward to recovering and starting a new phase in my life... :)

[richy]

This is so good. you should add more poetry.

[Elise Anton]

I have tons of it. None of it rhymes though and I felt people wouldn't be interested in my disjointed verses... Thanks for reading and liking!

[richy]

Doesn't have to rhyme. That's the best part.

[Elise Anton]

Thank you :)

[Carolynn]

I've been here and done this - stuck in a relationship where one heads north and the other heads south! (or doesn't move at all) Sometimes you just have to be ok that you aren't meant to be, move on, pick up the pieces that are left and re-arrange the puzzle - it eventually gets put back together although it may end up looking totally different. My new puzzle fits together perfectly :) philosophically speaking ;)

[Elise Anton]

Haha I have a poem about North and South! Glad you enjoyed it and you are right, philosophically speaking, one can be put together again. I'm in that similar place myself ight now! Thanks again for reading.