Solitude Poem by Robert Sheridan

Propositioned passions torment me
Conversation dulls me to inner wit
Why do I listen to thee in solitude?
Hope laid waste like winter solstice
Kneels me to dreams now faded;
Being taught on how to die –
Like fallen leaves flaked in time
Now whispering in frozen graves
Dwelling in the midst of vengeful sages
“Ach! der ist bald allein! ”
My self-portrait canvasses like a snowy-slope
Its pain crystallizes in a whitened dell
No half-truths, no half-reasons
A short retirement urges a hasty return
All too reverend, somewhat visually impaired;
When dwelling on companions gone
Away! Away! To a new solitary place
Perhaps to a home where memories stalk
Umbrae as-to a shadow-less shade
In solitude, a constant vigil I will keep.

'2007'