Home Alone

 

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.