Mark J. Halliday Poet Blank verse

Barricades

We join the public social functions
To fill our time with emptiness,
And list our names with organizations
To barricade ourselves from loneliness.

We surround ourselves with similar faces,
Acquaintances forgotten when out of view;
They neither know our names nor places--
The friends we have are all too few.

We build our concrete dams of silence,
As if the passing time we could slow.
Barricades both defend and imprison,
Leaving us with our thoughts, alone.

Tear down your dams, and breach my barricades.

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Kim Van Breda May 4, 2014 at 9:39 AM WoW... powerful stuff and so true of our human nature--specifically poets. I always think about this in terms of that Simon and Garfunkel song "I am a rock". One of my first poems posted on this site the beginning of last year follows this theme-- "Black Sheep Drawback". Mark J. Halliday May 9, 2014 at 12:20 AM I Am A Rock was one of my favorite songs in the early 70s. I did a piece years ago called Solitude And I in the same vein (probably not on this website).

Louise Holley March 29, 2014 at 7:56 PM This is unfortunately so so true. Its funny that in this world of so called social connection people seem to feel lonelier than ever. I like this it is very observant. Mark J. Halliday May 9, 2014 at 12:16 AM Good observation. I haven't really had a 'best friend' other than my wife for decades. Most of my friends married way before I enlisted, then in the Army we moved around every few years, so all I really had were friendly acquaintances.