Today I thought I would explore the deep issues around a sadly underdeveloped ego. I think we are all products of our upbringing and the polishing and influence of those around us as we grow up. I came up with this interesting character and wrote this Villanelle poem. Look out for the story later.
I was curious to find an unexpected visitor on my doorstep when I returned from work today. I encountered a man who looked about ten years older than me leaning up against the doorpost. He had long fair hair, with striking green eyes. His eyes were noticeable as he had a permanent squint and he wore a pair of rather large plastic spectacles. He was over six feet tall and towered above me as he gave an impudent grin and said, ‘Hi! Pleased to meet you. I’m Damion, your long lost step brother.’
These words were delivered with a broad West Country accent. I was taken aback and I looked up at him and replied, ‘Are you mad? I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Get out of here before I call the police and have you removed.’
‘Hear me out and I will explain, I promise you we’re brothers, we have the same father, George Alexander. I was born in Somerset, where our father had set up a second home with my mother. I was the product of that relationship.’ This was said with the same impertinent grin.
I responded angrily, ‘You’re obviously mistaken Damion! You look nothing like me and I don’t believe a word of your story. Now get out of here before I call the police.’
He nonchalantly grinned and pulled a large envelope from his pocket and withdrew some photographs.
We are surrounded by words and phrases that neatly and conveniently mask or cover-up something much more deep seated, challenging or complex; real issues and fundamental concerns, that become more palatable, easier to distance ourselves from and ignore or live with, when parcelled up in a neat, sometimes glib or euphemistic, word or phrase.
As I have almost completed ten years of living as a septuagenarian and I see the ominous deadline when I will officially become an octogenarian approaching, I feel I can safely sit and ponder on words that seem to be particularly significant.
EQUILIBRIUM
Welcome aboard the good ship Equilibrium
Often tossed and shattered by the storms of life,
Battered by waves of discontent or sadness.
Sometimes sailing fair in a calm sweet wind
Sailing smoothly through life on an even keel.
Guided by warm breezes with a steady wheel.
Sometimes with lovebirds, sometimes with crows,
Equilibrium balances the highs and the lows.
–
The delicate balance of the Equilibrium
Can be altered or adjusted to reflect a whim.
Remove a comforter from a baby’s mouth
Equilibrium is instantly noisily shattered.
With howls and tears and eyes that are wet
The comfort-zone, considerably upset.
Sometimes with lovebirds, sometimes with crows,
Equilibrium balances the highs and the lows.
–
Does the Equilibrium adjust as the body ages
Altering, reshaping to take in new parameters?
When we are young we fall deeply in love
The mind is soaring, love is all that matters.
With hearts beating faster and eyes dilated
The world has more colour, almost recreated.
Sometimes with lovebirds, sometimes with crows,
Equilibrium balances the highs and the lows.
–
How do you measure Equilibrium, always changing?
In youth Equilibrium is dynamic, always rearranging.
A senior citizen, a new direction, becoming a retiree.
The time when Equilibrium becomes shaky and weak
With many falls, hands shaking and joints that ache.
For today’s prompt, write a last poem. The poem itself does not (and hopefully is not) have to be THE last poem ever written. But it could be the last poem for a person, or the a poem about the last day of school or work. Heck, it could be a poem about eating the last piece of pie (or discovering someone beat you to it).
LAST WORDS
(A last poem)
The funeral was a formal venerable occasion,
People attended from near and far.
A well-respected member of our local community
Had passed onward to a shining star.
~
The family gathered to hear a trusted lawyer
Solemnly intone the final wishes
Of the late mysterious solitary Ebeneezer
A man who kept secrets of his wealth and riches.
~
A confirmed bachelor all his lifelong days
As the eldest of nine, brothers and sisters
His spread-out family with many nephews and nieces
Hearing these last words provoked many shocked whispers.
~
‘I leave my entire fortune to the member of my family
There’s nothing worse than the horrific feeling when you suddenly realise you are under attack and in danger of your social media account getting hacked. Suddenly you begin to get sundry messages from a few friends enquiring about a post that purportedly comes from you. Then the fight begins as you hastily check all the latest messages and posts and the realisation begins to sink in that there is an online battle in progress. One message from a family member who instantly realised what was going on, cautioned with the advice to immediately change the password and a report should be sent to the social media site. Strangely an unknown ‘dodgy’ account had surfaced that had my photograph and we both reported this to the social media site.
Unbelievably while all this was going on there was a drop in the strength of our internet network signal and I was unable to do much as the signal became weak and started to get weaker. Eventually I was able to put out several messages warning my friends not to open any links that were purportedly to be from me on any of our mutual sites.
The social media site then emailed to report the suspect site was not pretending to be me. I had to dispute this and I immediately emailed them back pointing out that it was my photograph. The whole site then suddenly disappeared.
Slowly I proceeded to delete all the unexplained messages on the social media site and things quickly returned to some semblance of normality.
I’m now in the process of changing many of my passwords and personal details on this particular social media site. A frightening day revealing the ongoing perils of using social media.
There is a common condition that is an insidious state of mind that comes upon many, many people, irrespective of social standing or age group. I refer of course to the effects of loneliness which can be a killer that stunts the personality and eats away at a person’s self-esteem. The punishing effects of isolation are infinitely worse at present, due to a tiny lethal virus that spreads through social contact.
We have several friends who have lost their partners after many years of a happy relationship, who were struggling with loneliness even before the ongoing Covid pandemic that is sweeping the world. Sadly now in this time of lockdown isolation, these friends are obviously feeling more isolated than ever. The government advice is to stay safe and keep a regulated distance away from others.
This practical advice, based on hard scientific evidence is just one of the harsh measures that increases the solitude of many lonely people. Pubs, clubs and cafes are locked down as well as most social and sporting activities where people could meet and socialise with one another.
There is nothing to beat social contact with a walking, talking, human being, as opposed to the cold online, or telephone contact that people are reduced to at present.
The emotional effects of this sort of situation can be devastating to the sense of identity and forces a deterioration in one’s self confidence. Not being able to fully connect with others leads to a slow insidious corrosion of self esteem that finally affects our communication skills, making it harder to form lasting friendships in the future.
For those of us who are lucky enough to be in a stable rewarding relationship it becomes something of a huge responsibility to just reach out and take time to talk through the mask of isolation.
The proverbial Good Samaritan would be nursing the psychological wounds today of the friend or neighbour who has been robbed of their self esteem by this evil virus and trapped in this cage of loneliness.
DAMION
THE HACKING ATTEMPT 
johnandmargaret1607 