Loneliness
All those moth-bitten cliches
about being alone
and being lonely.
Like,
"the last word in lonesome
is me..."
And the equally moth-mangled
conventional wisdom
about never being alone.
"When you walk through the storm,
hold your head up high..."
...and all that.
Which is true?
Are we ever alone?
Are we never alone?
They can't both be true.
It is objectively true
that you are never alone.
Even when there are
no other humans around
with whom you can interact,
there is nature
and your own thoughts
and music,
books,
television,
the ever-lovin' internet...
to name a few
ready companions.
But sometimes
the sense and sensations
of being alone
and bereft
are subjectively
overwhelming.
When you are lonely,
there is scant comfort
in cliches
and conventional wisdom,
and hungry moths
are no company.
We must learn
to be at home
with ourselves,
with our thoughts,
with our memories,
with our imagination,
with our faith.
We are not alone,
but we must learn
to be at home
alone.
