Michael Collins - Absence

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Or - as in my as my former beloved once wittily informed me-

‘Absence makes the fond heart wander’.

Which is precisely what her fond heart did…

Anyway…Enough self-pity…

She actually did me a favour

Or so she said: To quote…

‘I did you a favour…’

I thanked her… To quote…

‘Thank you…’

Anyway… Enough celebrating the

end of a 12 year relationship.

So what else may one say about

absence? Absence implies a vacuum.

Something not there. Absence of truth,

for example. Commonplace. Absence of

beauty, for another example.  Also commonplace.

Such absence tends to

make the world a very dull place.

Absence of basic necessities … imposed by others for nefarious reasons.

(Make that example 3… )

Still let us not dwell too long on that one.

Much too uncomfortable. Then there is no. 4

Absence of conscience…Usually applied

to those who adhere to  example 3.

Then there is the absence of mind…

Also called (at least in its early stage)

‘absent-mindedness’. That one may

(and often does) have severe consequences

…for all concerned.

Example 5.

Now true story. I was at a choir

group and we were all having a really

good time… singing… as one might

expect… And even though I was only

really mumbling in time with the music,

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. After

we had finished… and this is a true

story remember… someone chimed up

amid the laughter: ‘We should just

all take off our clothes’.

(Trust a hippie to utter such joyous profanity)

The room fell silent…the laughter

subsided… Noone moved…

Everyone appeared … at least temporarily…

absent.