Alone and Lonely

It’s a misnomer, that being alone means being lonely

That having people around means you’re never alone

Because when you drive off a cliff you affect others

One by one, they topple like dominos

It’s a bold-faced lie that they tell you in kindergarten

You know, the one about always being nice

That good comes from good, and all of that

Because being popular isn’t a byproduct of “good”

Even if everyone says it is. What do they know?

It’s a tragedy, when they think alone means lonely

But they often go hand in hand, fist in fist

Clasped tightly so no light can escape from within

And I feel both sometimes

In quiet, in crowds, in fractured moments

Stitched together haphazardly by existence

But I don’t want to be like the mindless masses

While they worship their gods of anxiety

At their altars made of porcelain, shined up

Decorated in ghostlike array, quite ironic

Just like that feeling you get at the break of day

In the silence of your own self-loathing

When others say they’ll be there for you

But they aren’t

And you’ve grown too disaffected to care

Just like me

Alone and lonely.

Sam