A Company of One

Hey all.

Here is the first poem I wrote on my vacation. I wrote this on some scrap paper that I had in my pocket. I was alone, in the gardens in front of Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas late on Tuesday night, just as it was raining. I sat under an overhang in the garden and wrote this. I am directly transcribing the poem from the paper without any modifications, other than the notes I made on the paper itself to keep the moment alive as it were. I took the title from another line in a previous poem which seemed to carry a special resonance in the moment I was writing. Hope you don't think it a cheap tactic. I can already see places where I could make it better, but that wasn't what I wrote at the time and would be cheating, at least to me. Hope you enjoy.


A Company of One


In a sea of white,

I don the black.

When everyone joins the herd,

I stray from the pack.

A company of one,

One more moment found undone.


When all my friends gather,

I hold myself back.

While the world reads Stephen King,

I relate to Kerouac.

A company of one,

This solitary race left to run.


As you follow the path,

I avoid the beaten track.

For when you fufill your dreams,

I'm just another selfless hack.

A company of one,

My emptiness long since begun.


A relationship hold possibilities,

Yet I have not skill or tack.

To avoid all opportunity,

Can yield no target to attack.

A company of one,

A battle fought that can't be won.


While you fill your life with love,

I hold this empty sack.

Every time you kiss your lover,

I'm reminded of what I lack.

A company of one,

All that matters now outdone.


End of Line.
Gerrad!