19 - I’m Not Done

#NaPoWriMo Day 19 (actually, finally!) and today I’ve been writing an acrostic inspired by the prompt of “Loneliness”, thanks to my bodged-together-at-the-beginning-of-the-month Prompt-o-matic Spreadsheetatron (which I may or may not make available to the public once this month’s done and I can take a short breather). I live alone at the moment, and I make no apology for the slightly obscure/ punning nature of my nodding title.

But it isn’t the 19th anymore, Fay! I hear you say. Ah, yes, well... that’s because, Imaginary Interlocuter, I got too in my head about how to do an audio version of this, and have been blocked for days as a result.

Remember that, if you’re a subscriber to my Patreon, you can hear said recording of this piece (and the eighteen preceding it) there. The link to the relevant post is here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/im-not-done-156565304 (but if you’d like to get hold of the recording for accessibility purposes, just let me know).

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It’s not how others think of it, apparently;
Nothing like the terror and tedium they
Seem to imagine. Drifting in echoing emptiness,
Unable to cope with only my own voice? No:
Loneliness is rarely something I experience
Alone. Solitude is soothing, safe, sufficient.
The thing that absolutely breaks me
Is being cut out in company, unfit puzzle piece.
Ostracised, voice drowned; that’s confounding,
Not this blessed peace (with the means to reach out).

Photo by Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC BY-SA, via Wikipedia

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If you’d like to write your own acrostic, why not make use of my handy-dandy shareware spreadsheet that can help get you started? https://bit.ly/poemrep