You think you see me,
but you don't.
You see the mask I put on,
but not me,
not the real me.
You say I don't wear a mask,
that you would know if I did,
but you don't know me!
You don't see me!
And how I struggle in the world,
in conversations,
in gestures.
You don't see me,
pretend to be someone I am not.
You don't see me,
imitate your language,
your faces
your interactions,
your signals,
your cues,
your words!
You don't see me!
Don’t chide me for my naked words,
stripped of pathos.
I feel no shame for the shyness of old age—
beneath a sheet in the dim light
of twilight's hour.
All my life, I have carried in my soul
that irreconcilable beauty born of lovemaking.
Yet I no longer have the strength
to pursue desire.
The moon mocks me,
cutting through the room uninvited,
bleaching a night that feels heavy,
pitch-black, and absolute.
Inside, the chest is just an echo chamber—
grief rattling against a heart that’s still young,
still trying to breathe,
still hopefully naive.
Then the familiar intensity floods back.
Memories hit like a high-speed chase,
uncaring and dangerous,
proving that time doesn't heal a thing—
it just stays.
Gasping for air,
you’re just a silhouette,
a shadow staring straight up
into a dead, starless sky,
begging the dark for a rewind button.
Were you ever actually significant before this?
No applause in this silence.
The question just sits there—
unread.
Isolated, bitter,
mind running on a loop—
does anyone even care,
or is everyone just surviving?
Tears blur,
pools of tasteless salt...
and the dark doesn't move.
Visual Art: The accompanying background image was generated using AI assistance to visually capture the modern, nocturnal mood and atmospheric themes described in my original poem.
Ruby leaves yield to snow flurries and
footsteps compressing pale ground.
I wander,
unintentionally pressing crescent shaped scars of fingernails
into my palm.
White remains in the reflections of store fronts;
they are mirrors, a silent introspection of my vagabond depravity.
In late January, I met them. It was a corner that I finally turned in my life. Shy… that was never me until I lost my friends. And when I found new ones, I was still that.
But friendships are sweet.
We acted like we'd known each other forever after a month, and it was almost a honeymoon period. I was learning inside jokes and the tea about all the guys.
See… friendships are sweet.
Prom was exactly four months after we met, and we all were in our gowns and new at this, being freshman that year. I left them for a bit, to talk to my crush, and they kept cheering me on. I love them so much.
Friendships are so sweet.
Never forget that.
They'll grow into a tree that bears many aamazing fruits, and you jus have to be patient with it.
“Don’t Leave Me This Way,”
but you left me with a heart full of pain.
I stood in fear with “No Way” out,
with doubt creeping into my head.
“Everybody Loves Somebody,”
but I was left here on my own.
I wondered, “Where Did Our Love Go?”
when you walked away and left me alone.
But somewhere beyond the darkest night,
“I See the Light” — a flicker, so bright.
“I’ve Got You Under My Skin,”
yet I won’t let the past pull me in.
So I’ll “Let It Be,” and carry on,
even when my strength feels gone.
“I’ll Rise” above the pain I knew,
and slowly find my way anew.
“The Best Is Yet to Come,” they say,
so I’ll keep moving toward a brighter day.
And when the darkness fills my sight,
I’ll hold on to that little bit of light.
I’ve noticed about loneliness
It never comes alone
But with its friend the sadness
It enters at my home
“What do you want, my dear?
I have no time for you
I hope this sounds clear
For your companion too”
Don’t worry, loneliness replies
Enjoy your time, be still
We hide behind your smiles
We’ll stay with you until
You find how to forget us
It’s easy, just in case
You know about forgetfulness
A little more these days..
the chair slides down to the floor,
wick of past mornings in a floating shop,
the killing time of an unshared storyboard
craven need
white chaste face dipped in mud,
daily smokescreen
tongue's
lovetug
numb
the chair slides down to the floor,
white chaste face dipped in mud,
numb
The school bell is ringing but nobody moves yet
Trapped in the hallway between classes and years
My childhood is packed up inside my locker
While high school is waiting past the heavy doors
We split up the cafeteria tables like borders
Choosing our sides by the clothes that we wear
I stand in the middle with my lunch tray shaking
Halfway between who I was and who I will be
My old best friend passes and looks through my shoulder
Like I am a ghost from a grade she forgot
How fast does a memory turn into a stranger
Leaving you lonely in an overcrowded room?
If we spent our whole lives just cutting things smaller
To figure out where we belong in the math
What is left of the person we started out being
And who pays the price for the pieces we lost?
Our phones glow brighter than the stars at night,
Our laptops keep us working till morning light.
We scroll through lives that seem perfect and bright,
While hiding our own tears far out of sight.
Social networks whisper, “You are not enough,”
Turning simple days into battles tough.
We chase notifications, likes, and praise,
And slowly lose ourselves in endless maze.
When stress grows heavy and anxiety stays,
We search for medicines to soften the days.
Some light a cigarette to calm the mind,
Yet leave another silent wound behind.
At midnight, sleep stands waiting at the door,
But restless thoughts keep asking for more.
Insomnia becomes our quiet friend,
While exhausted minds refuse to end.
We are more connected than ever before,
Yet sometimes feel alone at our own door.
Perhaps the healing begins when we learn to disconnect,
And give our tired hearts the peace and love they deserve.
- Jolly Muhury Samui :(
How peculiar… one lonely stumble upon another lonely.
That, in itself, is really unimaginable, yet, seems possible.
A wonderful idea!! Two meet to extend the loneliness idea…
I like that!! Where are you, lonely girl??
Come to me, be lonely with me!!
Let’s both share the same loneliness, the same desires…
Be brave, don’t hold back! Find me so we can both be lonely
Together, yet still one; I will wait for you…..
Just.. come on, I’m waiting for you!!
Search more than you had done before;
Look left and right, I’m here… look furthermore!!
Let yours guide to mine;
Let your loneliness, find mine!!!
-------
vol 7, Ondy Ready to Fly!
An Ode to Emily Dickinson
by Frank Daub
Whatever did you ask for?
Whatever,
for your heart, your soul.
You clothed yourself in disbelief,
You denied your innate beauty.
Superficial measures formed your grief –
Strength nourished your duty
To celebrate the universe.
Your isolated loneliness made bitterness
Sweet.
Lonely observer of humanity’s soul –
You were.
Lonely and humble – in your eyes.
Yet,
There was a holiness in your love.
If I knew how to make the clouds dance,
I would teach them to waltz across vast skies.
They would never dissolve into nothingness—
And they would always inspire searching eyes.
If I knew how to make the clouds dance,
I would be a musician of bright notes and vivid colors.
I would take them by the hand like friends,
So they would never grieve as lonely drifters or lovers.
I would teach them how to be like the swans,
Moving gently with grace as they glide.
A composer floating endlessly in the lake of dreamers.
"Note: AI image generated to complement the themes of my original poem."
I JUST LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH
Loneliness is as a period
Without a full sentence;
It mirrors a riverbed
That once knew water;
Yes, loneliness can be canvassed
As a dried eggshell that has lost all:-
You were my life’s sentence, water, and yoke:
And this life of mine, just misses you so much:-
TWILIGHT
I hear the handle turn
My time as slow as silence
For someone quiet yearns
My door, her brass is violence
Who's hand should show concern
Night, has just touched my life
I hope, someone as sure
In wait, In want, in twilight
Loneliness Categories
Definition | What is Loneliness in Poetry?
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.
Related Poetry Forms
heartache, desolation, solitude, alienation, aloneness, withdrawal, solitariness, seclusion, remoteness, forlornness, friendlessness, lonesomeness,