(Always a Stranger is the first of five we will be running by Fabrice Poussin this week. Dale is by far a better judge of poetry than I am, but I think just about anyone will see the quality in this poet’s writings–Leila)
I feel the crushing weight of all those lives
foreign to me, and I know they do not understand
the pain mine, factor that seems to define my existence.
I think of those who may have loved me once, who perhaps
care for me a little today, but they move on without looking back
they have their own lives to live, and I stay frozen as a statue.
I cannot fathom the immensity of this punishment,
a continued torture that ravages my body and soul
for decades, I have been condemned to aloneness.
To realize that I cannot be another adds to the yoke
as I am so thoroughly trapped in a life I am beginning to abhor
useless, ugly, unwanted, will it not end today?
Fabrice Poussin
Saragun Springs 
Powerful in its theme of isolation. They say in self help groups, “You are not alone,” but sometimes you are. The mark of Cain can come with or without God’s tattoo gun. Excellent poem!
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The underlying metaphor is not an obvious one; it could mean almost anything, from social or cultural estrangement to the embodiment of a literal statue. Which is what makes the verse so sublime; it can assume the trappings and take on the meaning of almost anything. Well done!
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Fabrice
This is a poem that states the existence many of us are seemingly damned to live.
“Aloneness” strikes beautifully. It hits the “someone for everyone” cliche where it ought to.
Leila
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