self

Being alone is
being haunted
the search for
what rests beyond
the outside world
developing
identity
control
assuming what the sickness is
and how it began and where it
sleeps
solitude is solidarity
looking inward imagines
the outside and manages
the inside again to cope
on a grander scale with
the living things that push
and prod and try our very
last nerve
we step away from you to
become
closer to you
to find a common thread
to make the pain a memory
to find empathy in an empty
world
to tremble in the darkness by
ourselves to save you from
ourselves to identify with
ourselves to pretend we are
ourselves
we do it all for you