A Part Set Apart

Enough! Too much time I’ve spent waiting here,

a troubadour floundering without a part,

waiting for someone to take my prose apart.

I realize now they are too deaf to hear.

Their eyes are shut and blind to really see,

how they are drowning in a placid sea.

From my cliff above that sea,

All their ambivalence is plain to see.

Yet, I cannot help but hear

a siren calling to me here,

“Let them know you are a part.

You need not be so far apart.”

So, I endeavor to take my words apart,

being careful not to lose a part.

Then, I cast them out to sea,

watching until the bottle I no longer see.

Now, the lapping of the waves is all I hear. 

I wonder how long I’ve been standing here.

I fear I will always be waiting here.

Like some child too eager to play a part.

I forget that rocks can tear you apart.

Too late, the swells I begin to hear.

With fear, I look back in agony to see,

my vowels and consonants swallowed by the sea.

Alone now with the pernicious sea,

I wonder why I could never see

No one longs for my words to hear.

No one desires to come here.

They would rather be a part.

They fear being set apart.

Forever, I could stand here looking at that sea

and still, not hear and never see

that I am but a part, 

forever set apart.