When you realise

that you have been nobody’s

afternoon idle dream,

that the role of shining knight

was reserved for whoever rode

the biggest horse

or that you cannot imagine

that the world would not be happier

without you in it, that your smile

counted for nothing

on a good day,

then everything else just falls into place,

that you are part of the ninety-nine

percent, even though

you feel alone;

truly and irrevocably in the way

in a room shrouded in people

looking away.

Ian D. Hall 2017