I set out to write this poem as a circle. That is to say I wanted the reader to be able to read it from top to bottom or bottom to top and have it be exactly the same. It took me a while (2 days or so), but I did it.

It is about how I feel about relationships and how, for me, a girl must be "free" of her last relationship before she gets into one with me. Meaning that I prefer for her to have been a "free agent" as-it-were for a bit before entering "My Circle". That way remnants of the old one don't cloud her actions/reactions with/towards me and possibly spoil our new relationship.

Thus ... "You must come alone ..."

Then ... for all nay sayer's ... I did it AGAIN in "Our Circle"
I wanted to express it's meaning, true. But I also wanted to prove I could do the forwards/backwards thing again.

Find it here:

https://hellopoetry.com/poem/2428332/our-circle/

They have been called "Reverse poems" and "Double-back poems". I never knew there were names for it, but I did know it had been done many times by many, many poets. I just wanted to give it a shot.

I was living with my girlfriend at the time and she was bi, I am not. But I am very open minded, to a point. We sometimes "shared" our bed with another girl, to satiate her needs and to keep our love life full of adventure. I was thinking about "My Circle" and wanting to repeat the feat.

When I set out to do this, I had to restructure my philosophy a bit for this piece and my situation. I always felt that these girls should never become integrated into our relationship. Just as I'm sure she wouldn't want me lunching or shopping with one of our lovers, I felt the same about her. It isn't about being jealous, but things happen. Not to mention, the third person may take a shining to one of us and then you have a problem as well.

This "adventure" was for us and our relationship, not about having someone IN our relationship ... if that makes any sense to you.

Thus:  "Only for a few fleeting moments, it can hold three ..."

We kept them as "toys" and not "friends", for lack of a better term ... no staying overnight, no dinner/movie parties, shopping or beach trips or any other outside bonding. Just come over, have our moments and say goodnight. It sounds cold, but it never was. We would explain it before they ever came to our bed. Not once did we come across one that disagreed with the philosophy or didn't understand why we wanted it to be only about the "moments".

If you don't know the story of Charlie Brown ... OR his "Little Red Haired Girl" you won't really get this. I was just trying to imagine that poor guy writing a poem to his ever elusive object of adoration.

Maybe this bit from Wikipedia will help explain his plight:

"The Little Red-Haired Girl is an unseen character in the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, who serves as the object of Charlie Brown's affection, and a symbol of unrequited love. While never seen in the strip, she appears onscreen in several television specials, in which her name has been revealed as Heather Wold."

"Charlie Brown most often notices her while eating lunch outdoors, always failing to muster the courage to speak to her. She figures prominently in Valentine's Day strips, several of which focus on Charlie Brown's hope of getting a valentine from her. Charlie Brown typically attempts to give her a valentine but then always panics at the last minute."
-Wikipedia

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All my life, I have, for many reasons, loved and related to, Charlie Brown. Lord knows my friends and family have ALL witnessed first-hand my being in situations where, like our hero, I somehow get *******, knocked down, beaten back or just plain defeated by circumstances beyond my control, all while in the midst of trying to do something heartfelt, valiant or with the very best of intentions.

I had a plastic toy of him that was, ironically, the only toy of mine that survived the house fire that took my Father, Christmas Eve 1969. I kept it until my 20's, when I was burglarized ... and the ONLY two things this person took were THAT precious, cherished toy and an object d'art piece of pottery that I had made in High School.

Oh, good grief!

(Long sigh)

I wrote this poem nearly blacked-out after an entire night of power drinking across lower Manhattan. The next morning, I woke up and found it still on my PC screen. After I read it, I almost dismissed and deleted it as too "silly" and "mushy" ... but, for some reason, I just couldn't. I eventually became so enamored with it, that I included a slightly rewritten version in my experimental short story. Find it here:

https://hellopoetry.com/poem/2396540/thee-longest-piece-ever-uploaded-on-hello-poetry-as-far-as-i-know-i-doubt-youll-read-it-through/