Life is an obstacle

"I feel like a broken hero
on a last chance power drive."
It's a quote from Bruce
Springsteen, I think.
I know it's not a good
idea to mention
an old rock star
in these modern times
(especially not a
male american one)
but I can't help it
it is EXACTLY how I feel.
Okay, where to begin?
I was 33 and all my dreams,
all great visions I'd had
about life were gone.
I was still living in
Newcastle and I
hadn't had a real
job since... since...
I don't know if I'd
ever had one.
I wanted to be a writer.
There you go.
You see, things never
work out the way you think
they will. Well, isn't
that a pity. And then
there's this girl. Quite
a nice lady, some say...
She left me.
Obvious, isn't it?
And why did she now?
Well, we don't really
know, do we? She said
she needed to get away.
She's in London now.
Acting.
I don't care.
Really.
So, you see, there
wasn't much left for me
to do. Of course I
went through the
usual crap: drinking,
bad movies, bad
one night stands,
all that... Still it didn't
make me feel better.
I mean, it didn't help
me forget life. I'm
alive. And I see it
as a great problem.
As one of the poets says:
"Life is an obstacle."
Anyway, for a guy
like me, there wasn't
much left to do...
Well, that's why
I'm here, isn't it?
I quite enjoy making
pottery, actually. And
the countryside now
in autumn is, what's
the word, rather
illuminating. Every
evening I take a
stroll down to the lake,
and I listen to the wind
in the trees and the reeds.
So, there you go,
now I'm 38, I think I
live a quite pure life,
no women, no alcohol,
just minding the store.
I wouldn't say I'm happy
- not that I'm unhappy -
but the change was
good for me,
that much I can say.


Bobby Larsson

Copyright Notice
The content on glasgowreview.co.uk is copyright 2008-2010 The Glasgow Review and
individual contributors, and may not be reprinted, reproduced or retransmitted
in whole or in part without the Editor's prior express written consent.