“The strongest love is the love that can demonstrate its fragility” 

~ Paulo Coelho 
…and what of the chatter
in your murky mind
where overdue sleep
proves elusive?
Your heart safe behind
wild wounded walls,
independence cloaked
over reclusive.
You have no need,
or so you say
with classic
and stoic defiance,
To seek safe harbor
for your listing soul
in relationships
built on reliance.
So you lie there and gaze
at that sliver moon,
a dangling crescent
in your cobalt sky,
Rhetorical questions
hauntingly rhyme,
laced with vile judgment
demand to know why.
A loner, a pilgrim
a pillar of strength
 your dress of steel armor;
you wear it with pride,
But still lonely voices
reverberate on,
whispering echoes
ring hollow inside.
And thus you forge on
ahead of yourself
with fail-safe indifference
protection,
Yet fading facades
with hairline cracks
conspire to submit
to detection.
You’re a three dollar bill
in a penny arcade
where games of chance
feed illusion,
Flickers of loneliness
an inferno now
leaves your barren soul
scorched by confusion.
…and what of the chatter
in your murky mind
where overdue sleep
proves elusive?
Your heart safe behind
wild wounded walls
independence cloaked
over reclusive.

Copyright © Henri Ferguson 2005 All rights reserved

Author notes

This was loosely based on a dear friend who stated she was a loner and that relationships were too risky, too energy consuming and ultimately not worth the effort. Over time I have seen her abandon this way of perceiving the world and now is quite happy in a relationship with a fresh new perspective on the world. There are however many others who cling to this jaded perception of the world (my interpretation) and are fighting a losing battle with loneliness or living a life in resignation with independence cloaked over reclusive. 

Written January 11th, 2005