This Woeful Day

I see myself,
Myself I see.
Who am I?
Thou art better than me.
 
Here I am,
I am here.
I face the world,
With many fears.
 
Can I love?
Love, can I?
Will I learn to love,
Before I die?
 
Do I hate?
Hate I do.
Can I control fate
Before I hate you?
 
Am I stupid?
Stupid I am.
I better grow wise,
Before I am damned.
 
I am too bold,
Too bold am I.
I need to be sensitive,
I need to cry.
 
Can I be loved?
Loved will I be?
If you permit me,
To share my love with thee.
 
So, here I go,
So I go here.
To live in loneliness,
For the rest of the year.
 
Away with me,
With me away.
Banish my soul,
From this woeful day.

© 2025 Tristan Robert Lange. All rights reserved. Written circa 1995.

Tittu

Poet’s Note:
For Throwback Thursday. Written circa 1994, at age 16. In my earliest poetry, I was deeply influenced by old-world verse and Elizabethan language. By the time this poem was written, I was beginning to shed those influences for a more modern voice — though, as you’ll see here, the old world occasionally slipped back in.

NEWS:
Exciting update! A poem of mine was selected for publication in an anthology that has just been released. I’ll be posting more details and links soon at tristanrobertlange.com.