A Lonely Marriage

LONELINESS by Beverly J. Letchworth

Loneliness falls

     not with butterfly wings

     but with a smack

     of eagle's talons -

             gripping,

     suffocating,

     with pain

     that stills the soul.

It is a loathsome thing,

     this invisible suppression

     which leaves the heart

             shaken and afraid,

             despairing of its duration;

             

               for it's one thing

                to be lonely alone,

                but agony to be lonely

                                   with you.

          *    *    *    *    *    *    *

From The Many Faces of Journaling: topics & techniques for personal journaling by Linda C. Senn