Ten Times I Sat Down With Loneliness*
a poem by Wes Covey
Parts 1 & 2:
Ten times I sat down with Loneliness.
The first time I offered her a drink, but she refused.
The second time I didn’t bother with niceties.
She never once glanced at me as we spoke, but allowed her gaze to flit from face to face around the room.
I tried to inquire as to her general motivation, but she avoided the question.
The second time she wore dark glasses.
Parts 3 & 4:
Ten times I sat down with Loneliness.
The conversation was never very good.
The third time it was cold, and she wore black gloves and scarf.
I told her she was pretty and she didn’t blink.
I told her she made me cry and she smiled like a preacher.
The fourth time I had no words, and we sat across the table from one another, each lost in our own vision of her.
Parts 5 & 6:
Ten times I sat down with Loneliness.
The fifth time I was broken, and couldn’t.
Just couldn’t.
She didn’t seem to care.
The sixth time I told her I’d had enough. That I was a different man now, and didn’t feel like she had a place in my life anymore.
I suppose her response would be best described as a giggle.
Parts 7 & 8:
Ten times I sat down with Loneliness.
The seventh time she never actually said “I told you so,” but I could tell what she was thinking.
The eighth time I spent the last of my money on her dessert.
Parts 9 & 10:
Ten times I sat down with Loneliness.
On the ninth, we were as old friends.
This time, at last, she drank with me.
She showed me a picture of her cat.
The tenth time I thought she had stood me up, but it turned out she was there all along.
Never once did she offer to split the bill.
*Loneliness may be interchanged with Beauty.
Well done, Wes.
This is a really nice piece of poetry. Very original.
I read this poem with great interest, wondering what you’d do with it through the succeeding ten ‘movements’, if you like. What struck me was how you managed to vary the tone and mood subtly and slightly each ‘time’ making each line full of meaning, standing out as a great line in its own right and yet undeniably part of the whole. I also loved the self-awareness and flashes of humour amongst the (to me) rather resigned and world-weary tone of the poem. Thanks for introducing me to this – I really enjoyed it. 
awesome 50xs over.