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...Marriage

by Bee 

Posted: 05 March 2004
Word Count: 302


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Do I sound self indulgent when I think that life possibly stems around those in love, those with heartbreak, those with pain due to matters of the heart. Those of us that are single, unwittingly or wittingly – we are in the sidelines of it, the play – life is all about those that live the apparent meaning. If we don’t have it, we are subjected to watch and experience in silence. Am I self indulgent when I wish for the pain of love, the knowledge of where it comes from. I look at those crying and desperate and I envy - I wish for the knowledge of what they have and I begin to understand the feeling of self harm.

Life is all about the celebration of love. But what, what if we don’t have it. What if we never feel it coming our way, the puzzle does not quite fit. Nobody celebrates our loneliness, or our independence for a better way of putting it. We don’t have a ‘wedding’ of selves; we are the ones that are subjected to watch. I am being self indulgent perhaps, but why can’t I have tears of loneliness with girlfriends and wine around me.

..Because it’s deemed as pity, pity because we don’t understand. We aren’t quite at the point where they are, adolescence in an adult body. The time, apparently, will come. But will it…why should it? Why should a poor person find wealth, a person with a life of pain and anguish find comfort…is it really as simple as that. Can’t we celebrate what we have, in any which way, celebrate it with as much behind us and as much support of those that agree with poetry and songs.

I am self indulgent. Perhaps….let me celebrate, let me have my own wedding.






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Nell at 18:28 on 26 March 2004  Report this post
Bee, I've just found this accidentally. I think the reason you haven't any comments is a little like the reason people don't crit poetry in the same way as they crit fiction - they believe it's too personal, written from the emotions, and to offer even constructive criticism would be like a crit on the person who wrote it. I've read it through three times, and I understand what you're saying. It can seem like that, and your conclusion is good - perhaps we must love ourselves first to be happy, be responsible for our own happiness and not put that burden on another.

A little about the writing. One needs to be very careful - the real work starts when a piece is written. The theme of self-indulgence runs through - you ask the question a number of times, and at the moment it feels like accidental repetition because those instances where you mention it are not identical. If you were to say: 'Am I self-indulgent?' As a question that crops up throughout the piece and then attempt to answer that question until the resolution at the final line pulls the piece together, that would give it coherence, tighten it up. It could begin like this:

Am I self indulgent? I think that life stems around those in love, those with heartbreak - those with pain due to matters of the heart. Those of us that are single, wittingly or unwittingly, we are on the sidelines; the play, life, is all about those that live the meaning. If we don’t have it, we are compelled to watch in silence. Am I self indulgent? I long for the pain of love, the knowledge of where it comes from. I look at those crying and desperate and I envy them, wish for the knowledge of what they have and begin to understand the feeling of self harm.

I've taken the liberty of editing a little, removing those words that dilute the strength of the emotion behind the piece, words like 'possibly' and 'apparent'. I've substituted 'compelled' for 'subjected'; one is usually subjected 'to' a thing, rather than to 'do' a thing. I've changed one of the instances of 'wish' to 'long' - the English language is so rich that one can usually find alternatives where the repetition is not a deliberate device.

Bee, see what you think. You may prefer the original, but it's worth experimenting to see what works best, and that's not too onerous a task with a short piece like this, and can teach one a lot about writing.

Hope I've been a help and not a hindrance!

Best, Nell.



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