Graeme III (the final poem in the trilogy)

I promised the third part of the poëm trilogy on an old crush from the 1990s, named, well obviously, Graeme. Finally, I have enough energy coïnciding with sufficient cognitive clarity to be able to type a short blog-post. In later years, I saw him once more, but we did not meet. From what I can gather, he has a successful career and appears hale & hearty. 😊 

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Graeme III

my social-worker friend

he’s gay

not as inhibited as myself

tells me

I do not know

what emotional baggage you carry

my most recently-found, close friend

she’s straight

and worldly wise

you’ve encountered her

tells me

not to contact you

not to debase myself

my second most long-standing friend

he’s straight

unconstrained

for ever horny

(around women)

tells me

go for it

you never know

My most long-established friend

he’s unsure

but if pressed

will assert his heterosexuality

(he’s the most repressed person I know)

tells me

… nothing

he just humphs

and changes the subject

I would like to be friends

I would prefer us to be lovers

(full-time relationship or occasional liaison)

I would settle for an amicable affinity

- is compromise a dirty word?

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Whilst writing I have been listening to multiple versions of Olive’s “You’re Not Alone”, which invariably brings Graeme to mind. I doubt very much he even remembers our encounters, let alone knows of my existence. However, should he read this, I hope he reälises I wish him well.

Below is a link to another version of the music-video:

What do Instagram Faves Reveal?

 

Due to health-issues, for most of 2024 thus far I have been mainly avoiding the majority of my social-media. However, looking at images on Instagram (IG) is mostly innocuous and does not generally cause me anxiety nor stress.

I wondered what my favourited (in IG-jargon ‘saved’ images) might say about me. The reader can come to their own conclusions. However, below the screenshots of all my favourited images from 1st January to 31st March I have attempted a very light-touch analysis for anyone interested.

For myself, it helped me reälise that these past few months have not been all doom-and-gloom, but pockets of stimulation and interest.

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So what themes appear? I have attempted to group labels under general terms. These are then listed alphabetically.

Arts:

Aboriginal Art, Art, Artworks, Cinema, Collage, Colours, Dance, Elias Alpha, Illustration, Landscapes, Literature, Mosaïc, Music, Oriental Art, Painting, Photography, Portraiture, Sculpture, Tattooing, Textile Art, Tristor Blue, Western Art.

Attire:

Clothes, Fashion, Garments, Sex-Clothing, Underwear.

Beliefs:

Christianity, Humanism, Jesus, Religion, Spirituality.

Books:

Bibliophilia, Comics, Harry Potter, Le Petit Prince, Libraries, Literature, Reading, The Little Prince, Webcomics.

Buildings:

Architecture, Colour, Décor, Design, Furniture, Homes, Kitchen Design, Rooms, Ruins, Svenskt Tenn™️, Urban Landscapes.

Emotions:

Affection, Affinities, Comedy, Encouragement, Humour, Interactions, Laughs, Motivational Messages, Relationships, Smiles, Tenderness.

Entertainment:

Games, Jigsaws, Lego™️, Television.

Food:

Baking, Cakes, Cheese, Cooking, Cuisine, Drinks, Eateries, Eating, Fish, Gastronomy, Pizza, Prawns, Prosecco, Recipes, Restaurants, Salmon, Seafood, Sushi, Wine.

Health:

Covid, Disabilities, Health, Health-Issues, Chronic-Illness, Health-Messages, Ill-Health, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Language:

English, Etymology, Foreign Languages, Languages, French, German, Spanish, Words.

Mythology:

Angels, Demons, Dragons, Elves, Fauns, Chinese Dragons, Chinese New Year, Saint George, Saint Michael, Unicorns, Vampires, Wood-Dragons, Year of the Dragon, Year of the Wood-Dragon, Zodiacs.

Nature:

Animals:

Bears, Birds, Cats, Feathers, Foxes, Greyhounds, Owls, Sea-Life, Tigers, Wolves;

Plants:

Floristry, Flowers, Fruit, Gardens, Garden-Design, Garden-Landscapes, Nature, Skyscapes, Trees, Vegetables, Waterways, Weather, Woodlands.

Occasions:

Chinese New Year, Palentine’s Day, Saint Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Year of the Dragon, Year of the Wood-Dragon.

Politics:

Advocacy, Political Messages.

Sexuality:

Bears, Beards, Bellies, Bodies, Body-Imagery, Breasts, Chests, Daddies, Erotica, Gingers, Hirsuteness, Homoëroticism, Homosexuality, Jockstraps, Kinks, Kissing, Leather, LGBTQIA, Masculinity, Men, Moustaches, Rubber, Sapiosexuality, Sex, Sex-Clothing, Queerness, Underwear, Wimmin/Women.

Travel:

Andalusia, Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, England, Finland, France, Japan, Leeds, Locality, London, Manchester, South Africa, Spain, Trains, USA.

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In conclusion, my life seems to have been much fuller than I had reälised. I am so glad I made the effort to review my first quarter of the year. I feel far more positive about my life than I did prior to this endeavour.