Lonely Night Poetry Poem by Gary Vanderbur

1. Be Them
Be them day; be them night.
Be them gay; be them tight.
Together see them.

Be them white; be them black.
Be them bright; be them cracked.
Together see them.

Be them bitch; be them bore.
Be them rich; be them poor.
Together see them.

Be them peer; be them pair.
Be them here; be them there.
Together see them.

Be them alive; be them dead.
Be them jive; be them red.
Together see them.

Be them in bed; be them at work.
Be them fed' be them dirt.
Together see them.

Be them all; be them none.
Be them tall; be them runt
Together see them.

Be them sexy; be them fertile.
Be them pesky; be them sterile.
Together see them.

Forever see them.
They are you.


2. Despair
Show that you care and get frozen out.
Try to be a friend and get cut down.
I get nowhere. I become a lout.
There's not beginning; only end.
I might as well call it quits.
People could care less; I'm no good to them.
Hell, the way I figure, I might as well pull the trigger.


3. Oh, Well
I'm lonely. I've no place to go.
I'm lonely. I've no one to turn to.
I'm lonely. All my friends are gone.

Love and life are gone.
Friends and foes are useless now.
Why worry at all?

I'm dead.


4. God, Oh, God
God, oh, God, what a way to live.
God, oh, God, where is there purpose?

All seems lost.
No one is there.
I despair!
Help me; I'm lost.

God, oh, God, what a way to live.


5. Gone
Colors flowing through my mind blend in with a natural hue.
Feelings of being tossed aside play with my heart.

Thoughts of past loves try to cling to my heart,
But thoughts of today sever their last hold.

Gone forever are all the traces. Now, I am alone.
Survival becomes a dim thing. Let me sleep in the snow.


6. Silver Leaf, Maple Leaf, Tangerine Tea
Silver leaf, maple leaf, tangerine tea.
Cockleshells, mussel shells, what thoughts are me?

Orange grove, peach grove, sweet lemonade.
Wallpaper, sandpaper, where's my open grave.

Sandstone, limestone, slimy green fungus.
Hot dog, hound dog, I've turned to dust.

Roast beef, corned beef, metal Christmas tree.
Rainstorm, hailstorm, I've reached my destiny.


7. Was I?
Suddenly, it's just me!
All else is gone.
I free fall into nothingness
For I have ceased to exist.

People no longer need me.
I'm not here.
They walk right through me.
I've become empty space.

Eternity, eternity, I am yours.
No one misses me for I never was…


8. Gone Away
Gone away the sun.
Cloudy becomes the sky.
Rain begins to pour
And turns the world wet.

Gone away my sun.
Cloudy becomes my sky.
Rain begins to pour
And turns my world wet.

Water running through my heart
Loosens my ties to the world.
One, by one, they withdraw.
Gone am I from all.

Gone away the rain,
But where so my sun?

Gone away...
Gone away.

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(These eight pieces were all written on November 14,1970, at the Half and Half Coffee House in Memphis, TN. during an evening of intense depression.

All work by Vandy
© November 14,1969
Write Naturally Publishing House
…a division of Van Enterprises)