Lost love in Blackpool.

Good afternoon readers.
This week I saw a sign for a girl at side of the road. A please call notice for a lost love from 50 years ago- with a mobile number on to contact. Once upon a time I'd have probably called it for a laugh, being a bit of an idiot but, these days I'm a much more romantic and mellow person- I write poetry and things. 
The sign inspired my poem for the theme of Anonymity- in that I found it quite sad to think that for half a century someone had harboured an idea of a woman, a perfect snapshot that moves and talks and dances- both ever and never disappointed. Anyway, I've written the poem below as a result- hope you enjoy reading it.


Taking the Chances

I didn't catch your name in '62
But we danced under the Tower, me and you
Until the last tram home
And then I never managed call
And I wonder, are you free now
Did you get to see the world?

I've imagined how your ringlets waved
From Tokyo's snapshots and NYC
How your flowered dress and dancing shoes
Have turned heads across each world city
How your blue eyes still might search the sky
How I hope you found your perfect guy

But, girl from the Tower, June '62
If you've still not found love- it's been looking for you.

Thanks for stopping by, S.

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Anonymity is sometimes a paradox ....

To be truly unknown is no easy task. It takes great effort. Everyone is known to some extent surely? It is perfectly possible of course to create an alter-ego and publish works with no-one knowing who the actual writer or artist is. But that persons' true self will always be known by someone.

Which is where, I feel, the paradox comes in. In day to day life, how can people be surrounded by others and yet feel anonymous?


Everyone ... Someone ... No-one:

All to one,
Something to a few,
Anonymous to many,
Mother, Daughter, Sister, Niece, Friend.
She is all of these things.
Once a lover, a Wife.
Precious titles stolen cruelly.
Although surrounded by love,
She is alone
and feels it like a jagged knife 
run through her heart.
Harrowed and empty.
No arms hold her, safe.
No special attention for comfort
or companionship. 
No eyes gaze upon her anymore
With adoration or lust.
Selfish grief and time
give way to a lonely aching heart.
She yearns for the closeness,
Intimacy of being that special one.
She tries to submerge herself,
In the love of her child, her family,
the care of her friends.
All acting as a bandage over the open wound.
She walked along the street today,
just like yesterday and the day before.
Did you notice her?
She noticed you.
She even smiled and said "Good Morning!".
Your eyes turned to the floor,
head lowered to emphasize 
the disinterest.
Looked upon and unseen,
Ignored.
It struck her just how anonymous she was.
Everyone ... Someone ... No-one.
She is all of these things.


Thanks for reading. x

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What's your name?

Because I thought it was Wednesday (and not Thursday) today's post is both late and short.

There was a time about 10 years ago when I returned home to my London flat and felt guilty for not properly acknowledging someone. On realising I couldn't even describe him, despite only passing thirty minutes earlier, I wrote this:

Homeless

I passed you on Blackfriars Bridge,

dropped some change in a polystyrene cup,

and said - you're welcome.

Your sign said you were hungry,

I thought money would be enough

to fill the gap,

But how could it?

I should have stopped,

asked your name, and allowed you for minute

to be someone again.

Thank you for reading,

Lara

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Anonymity

Anonymity can help us reach out to the world with our innermost thoughts and feel freer for doing so. Behind a mask we don't have to worry about repercussions and can present ourselves however we like without feeling obligated to fulfil social expectations. When writing, a pseudonym can free us from the type of work usually expected from us. It can give us the freedom to express ourselves fully without threat to how we are perceived as a writer or a person. We can try new ways of writing, new genres, and put it out there to see how we are received.

JK Rowling considered publishing her first adult novel A Casual Vacancy under a pseudonym in order to separate herself from the Harry Potter series and break into the adult market. The reviews for this book were mixed despite it reaching number 1 in Amazon book sales within hours of release. It would have been interesting if she had used a pseudonym, to see whether it would have reached those sales in that time scale without her name on the cover. Rowling's success as an adult author can not be accurately gauged because of what came before. Her name has given her a status as a writer that will always ensure she is spoken about. Whether people like her adult books or not they will still buy them. She will always sell books. Her name has become a commodity more than anything else, which is sad and I do think that it's such a shame she never released her new novel without that. She saw her lack of anonymity as 'brave', but I disagree. It would have been far braver to release something without any expectations from the public, to see how they genuinely viewed it.


However anonymity on the internet can be a bit crap. People remove any vestiges of how they would speak to people in the flesh. In company if our political beliefs disagree then we agree to disagree if the discussion goes nowhere. Maybe we'll call them a dick to our partner on the way home but usually we are polite unless they are an outrageously offensive arsehole. Then we might call them that. If there's wine involved. But online this barrier of social politeness is removed almost completely. If someone is wrong THEN THEY MUST KNOW THEY ARE WRONG. All sorts of expletives, name calling and shizzle goes on.We might re-assess how we speak to someone on Facebook, but a random on the internet usually gets full qwerty throttle. The /B/ page on 4Chan is an example of how anonymity can stir up some incredibly creative, but also eye-wateringly nasty stuff. Don't google that if you don't have brain bleach handy. They created pedobear. But they did create LOLCats, and probably started the internet cat craze, so it's not all bad.



So, anonymity.  I've not really made my mind up yet. Good bits, bad bits. Pretty much like everything. I'll be here on the fence, whistling and pretending I'm invisible.

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