Loneliness; Prague, A square to Czech; Solitude and emptiness; Cold; Incomplete; Relationships and roles; Without friends; Rest my life, feel; Love exists, no longer than attachment; Alone in this world; Circles in a square; Minutes deeper; I can’t grasp; Trapped; I’ve noticed; Passion in the refuge of a refugee; Fighting and persisting; Self-imposed, restlessly Centered loneliness; Intriguing nights; Desperately sinking, sunk; My heart, unable to swallow; Tears flowing freely; Eyes like a knot untied; Feel lonely, sad; Oh my, how I am contained within this body; Conscious subconsciousness; Mind, its space; Surface struggles; Torn to think; My body; Existence; Contained within and without; Innately late; Swept by desire; Change me; Others, the world; Move thee; Beings inertia; Forget another; Individualistic, it is time; Forget one another; And lose alone; but for each other; In the forms; An encounter in day; No reason to jump underground; Going to do whatever it is they’re doing; Droned, stoned, cold face; Emptiness; Tied to nothing; Afraid, compelled; Ignore the distance; Move alone; Hop over hope, hello; Good morning, a smile; Feel good, a hand; Reach beyond struggle; I can’t understand; Ruin happy; Talking down instead of up; Nails scattered abrupt; Interject to be polite; Politically correct, right; Sayings straight forward beg to confused; Lost and lonely, dried up and used; Surprise, Surprise, Surprise Too sensitive to be real; Too real to be sensitive; Open-minded to say; Verbal bullies stroll my streets; Talking tears to shreds beneath my feet; Decipher truth, you Sherlock Holmes; Persons perceptions all alone; Flaws of defecated crazy; We are who neither to be; Flexible breathing, knowing; Throat slit and groaning; Disabled walking talking under my feet; Thinking how long this street; Wake up, passed away; Thinking of nights, cocktails, and sex to be; Laughing goats play their jokes; Life finds way too funny, gloat; Run away and hide again; Move past this square of ugly sins; Take heed to night, pointless ways; Life performance nothing but a play; Magic lantern lit the day; A mirage in a desert waiting, drank within; Dank souls; sounds and voices of oceans gone; Passion continuously taking us through; It’s here, no there, anywhere and everywhere; Excuses and blame where hope fails; Amens and hallelujahs to no avail; Hope reality when dreams attained; Trucks with brooms cleaning these stains; Fruition crushed in its midst; A castle on a hill, resting in mist; Facing ourselves in a thousand mirrors; Walls torn down so that they could hear us; Absorbed reflections, a place called peace; If only freedom could lie East; Self inflicted loneliness bleeds; In bloods of trials failed; Pain and suffering and no one to tell the tale; Czech beneath the crowded streets and listen to the voices yell.   Revised version Improved ode to Vaclav Havel that captures the themes of loneliness, introspection, and the struggle for freedom:
In Prague’s square, Czechs gather and roam, But loneliness haunts me, I feel so alone. Solitude and emptiness, a cold embrace, Incomplete relationships and roles, no friends to chase. Restless and centered, I persist and fight, Passion in refuge, I seek a guiding light. Trapped within myself, I long to break free, To find connection, and just to be. Intriguing nights, my heart heavy with pain, Tears flowing freely, like an untied chain. My conscious and subconscious mind at war, Surface struggles, but deeper thoughts galore. Existence contained, within and without, Late to the game, and swept by doubt. Desire and hope, a constant push and pull, As beings we move, but often feel dull. Forget one another, and lose alone, But for each other, we can find our home. An encounter in the day, a smile so bright, A hand to hold, to reach beyond our plight. Ruin happiness, with words so cruel, Talking down instead of lifting, a dangerous tool. Verbal bullies stroll the streets we walk, Tearing down dreams, leaving only shock. Decipher truth, in a world full of lies, We are who we are, without need for disguise. Flexible breathing, knowing what we need, And finding our voice, no longer in need to plead. Disabled walking, talking, and under my feet, Thinking of how long this street will meet. Wake up, and face the night with pride, Take the lead, and let go of the hide. Life’s performance is but a play, Magic lantern lit the way. A mirage in a desert, waiting to be seen, With dank souls, sounds and voices of oceans gone. Passion drives us through the night, It’s here, it’s there, anywhere in sight. Excuses and blame where hope may fail, But reality and dreams can still prevail. Fruition crushed in its midst, A castle on a hill, resting in mist. Facing ourselves in a thousand mirrors, Walls torn down, so that they could hear us clearer. Absorbed reflections, a place called peace, If only freedom could lie East. Self-inflicted loneliness bleeds, Trials failed, and tales left to plead. Beneath the crowded streets, listen to the voices yell, Czech and stand tall, for freedom’s ringing bell.