Walking Alone

by Michael Anderson

Alone
Edgar Allan Poe [1829]

From childhood's hour I have not been As others were- I have not seen As others saw- I could not bring My passions from a common springFrom the same source I have not taken My sorrow- I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same toneAnd all I lov'd- I lov'd aloneThen- in my childhood- in the dawn Of a most stormy life- was drawn From ev'ry depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me stillFrom the torrent, or the fountainFrom the red cliff of the mountainFrom the sun that 'round me roll'd In its autumn tint of goldFrom the lightning in the sky As it passed me flying byFrom the thunder, and the stormAnd the cloud that took the form (When all the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view.

Walking Alone
Michael R. Anderson [1/90]

Response to: "Alone", by Edgar Allan Poe. I, too, was born of a world not the same, Amongst white snow, a raindrops' shame.

In life's garden, a dormant seed. A heart held of dissimilar need. I, too, was awed by lightning's flash, Embering in mind even after the crash. Followed closely by silent rain, Blood-red, falling from the sky in vain. The wind chimed and the earth shook from thunder, And my mind was but befixed to wonder; How could I stand amidst this storm, Seek shelter not, yet still seem warm? But I, too, take my sorrow at a siteOther souls would nonchalantly slight. And I, too, have felt the need for love, But could only love that need which I dreamt of. And as I peered deep through the skies, The clouds grew black to shut my eyes. The demon that came in your view, Now's taken from me what he took from you. In the garden the seed has sprang, A nameless child unearths the pang. Felt for the flower, both eyes in close. Took twenty thorns to touch the rose. A wondering mind looked to the sky, So beautiful it had to die. Laid it to rest upon the stone, And turned away a man full grown. Singing the same song at a different tone, In thoughts, destined to die, unknown. Born unto a world not of our own, We walked together, walking alone.