Loneliness

LONELINESS The lonely person walks unnoticed with unfocused eye and unsteady step, failing to keep pace with the crowd. An approach of reliance to everything, like a crutch under the arm of the wounded, maintains balance amidst turbulence. You saw and did not recognize or notice, as if that person was as normal as you, but beneath the shrouded cloak of emptiness hides a soul weeping dry tears. Loneliness feeds on isolation, depression its friend, little noticed, but there are signals. Loneliness has a signature; a tell-tale sign for all to see, like an amateur gambler's tell. It might live with you unknown or work by your side eight hours a day, where its influence grinds, as if it were a metal file. Loneliness is looking for new hosts. Has it found you?