There is quickly surging in here
a rising stream of what has been
A thousand lovers now, to write about
their pursuit is my only want some nights
Another night of over-driven charm
another taxi ride of careless kisses home
A thousand lovers, they soon add up
too many names, too many faces come and go
A life is lived the wrong way around
I’ve grown up to grow down…
That amiable and likeable image is soon in tatters
stains all over the character and the name
A thousand lovers negate it all
phrases repeated too many times to be true
In this dark chamber, pretty birds linger
some circle so wantonly around here
A thousand lovers just for the taking
I forget how to simply speak a ‘no’
I’ll become a notch on a thousand bed posts
I missed the point of what I miss the most…
Can’t let them think there’s something more to this
or soon enough I’ll find myself too deeply in
with a thousand angry hearts to answer for
A thousand lovers all of whom so badly hate me
Bleak lists form on scraps of paper
in dirty bedrooms, on sweaty sheets
These thousand lovers do not ignite me
there’s no inspiration in these unfeeling flings
A thousand lovers; there may soon be
the more they add up
the less there is left of me…
[2010]
Thanks for reading.
The Lighthouse 
Good poem.
A thousand! Not sure if you’re bragging or complaining!
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Thanks for reading Hobbo. I have mixed emotions about this one and had been reluctant to post it – confusing times, confuse across time!
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You obviously kept a very sharp knife to do all that notching!
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😀 Something like that… Thanks for reading (and following) Peter.
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The last stanza ends this piece perfectly Tom 👌
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Thank you! You make a good point, the last stanza could be the whole poem really! 🙏🏼
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What a couplet: “A life is lived the wrong way around / I’ve grown up to grow down”. And agree on the ending. It’s a cool idea of love/lovers taking away pieces of you instead of adding to you.
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Thanks for reading and commenting Benjamin. Always appreciated. 🙏🏼 Regarding that line, I grew up, grew down a bit and then grew up again. I guess growth isn’t so linear after all.. 🙂
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I see what you mean. Perhaps nothing really is linear and it’s mostly a logical mistake the human mind makes. It’s a great line. And like your breakdown of it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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