Many people live alone
some are in self imposed exile and others just victims of circumstance. They are hidden, cut off from family and friends. They fall into deep states of depression and dwell on past memories. Old relationships, like ghosts, will haunt them. They dwell on their fears, think about death and wonder if anyone knows they are alive.
And so what should they do to keep sane? I am sure there are detailed theories, but common sense tells me they need to stay busy, find passion for something and do it. Even a prisoner locked in a cell will keep busy. They read, study law, draw to express inner feeling, exercise to build up their strength, even make plans to try to escape. It is the inmates that just sit around who go crazy. Aristotle summed it up best-
Happiness is a state of activity.
Part Two / Deep and Beyond, a space trilogy
Our astronaut has been struggling with loneliness and now he is losing sense of purpose. He is spiraling down and obsessing about death.
Traveling in Space Among Small Chips of Paint
I am dying in an astronaut’s chair,
made to feel comfortable
as stars stretch before me.
My options are coded and locked.
I will outlive my friends,
see their remains in eddies
of cosmic debris.
A wheel of brightness
glares on my visor.
I hear Harry Carry
quoting names backwards.
I wonder if all this is real,
will I ever return
before my own death.
NOTE: An earlier version of this poem was first published by the online journal 1949
If you missed part one click here
Within a Field of Cosmic Debris
A special thanks to all who have started to support my work.
All writing and illustrations are my own work.
If you enjoy what I do please follow @beginningtoend
Also, visit my website GOO FOO