Isolation at Dawn
by
Carmen Ruggero

In droning succession
The seasons of her life
Passed
In shades of melancholic charcoal,
And months, into years, merged.

Her existance untouched,
By the florid hues
Of spring
Or the sound
Of wind.

Never felt the coolness
Of snow on her cheeks,
Or summer grass
Beneath her naked feet.

No difference she could see.
Distracted,
Her mind on a dream.
Abstracted
From reality.

Mesmerized,
Her gaze on that star,
The brightest by far,
The golden beacon;
Beseeched.

She didn't see
The seasons passing,
The sunset,
Or moonrise.

She only saw her dream...
An illusion,
One day she would have...
One day... perhaps.

And the dream came
Stealthily in her slumber;
Thirsting,
Wanting, knowing
Her arms would open.

It seduced.
She relinquished
To the jealous lover.
Its passion,
Possessing, consuming.

And they were one.
Until exhausted,
And then... were none.
Isolation.

Spiraling
In a dark abyss,
Bonds broken, links rotting
Falling... falling...

Dissolution,
Agony.

Hands stretching.
No one reaching,
No one caring,
No one touching.

A stranger.
To all.
Alone.

Carmen Ruggero .2003

This is a revision of my poem The Drowning. It was done at the kind suggestion of a wonderful and respected poet who found enough merit in the work to suggest such revision. I am forever grateful to those who make such positive suggestions, as that is how we grow as writers and readers. We don't write in a vacuum. We are influenced by our experiences, our memories of those experiences, however changed by time, our readers, and the caring exchange we offer one another. This, I think, is a wonderful example of how collaboration should work. Thank you all for reading my work, and thank you for all your kind comments.  Carmen Ruggero