We aren't meant to be alone, he said,
and I held my tongue, sunk into arms
warmer than the words I bit back, but
I know the immensity of his aloneness
when compulsion gives way to taking &
shame sinks sickly in his stomach, so
far from his silver-slick tongue.
We're not meant to be alone, he said,
and I want to believe him, but I hear
the loneliness in your lament, I know
how sobbing sounds different
when it's your own. But what
aid can I offer for your aching,
what use my held out hand, when
drowning is all I've ever known.
And still he insists nobody is meant
to be alone, but every heart has its
empty chambers where decisions are made,
hollow places where nobody else can go--
& I know how loudly voices may resonate,
but there is no one else there
to shoulder the weight when
the path is ours to choose,
alone.