The Romantic | A poem inspired by Nietzsche's The Madman

 A poem inspired by Nietzsche's The Madman

The Romantic

16 June 2024

Haven’t you heard of the romantic 

who, in the moments before sunset, 

ran around the town square crying incessantly,

“I’m looking for Love! I’m looking for Love!” 

The public setting was loud enough to spark laughter amongst the crowds

Someone broke your heart, then? asked one.

How desperate, proclaimed another. 

Where did love go? questioned a child. 

How can love go missing?

The clusters in the crowd broke into their own conversations,

each with their own stories, trying to justify the man and his panic. 

Then the romantic jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. 

“Where is Love!?” he cried;

“I’ll tell you! 

We have killed it - you and I! 

We are all its murderers. 

But how did we do this? 

How were we able to take the joy from our hearts? 

When did music lose its color?  

Aren't we troubled by the bones that have replaced our hearts?

Who took the poet's pen? 

While even mere scribbled rhymes were hints of rare authenticity. 

It was you and I!” 

Pointing up to the moon, he continued. 

The dark craters of the moon became a face. 

A face of anguish.

A face of despair.

“Love is dead! 

Love remains dead! 

And we have killed it! 

Do we sense nothing of its decomposition? 

Why do we all carry the blood of hope on our hands?

How can we console ourselves?” 

The overwhelming silence made all of these answers clear. 

Then, from his satchel, he passed out roses to members of the crowd. 

A child trembled to take her rose by the stem. 

“Don’t worry, my child, plastic thorns shall not prick.”