no, you cannot think
solitude is your friend,
look at her stretched on your bed,
a powdered courtesan with melting eyes,
worshipping at the altar of your gangrenous wounds,
serving pleasure and pain at your slightest whim,
she is fan and foe and fork-tongued destiny,
autumn leaf and snowflake and variegated sun,
why yearn for the spring of togetherness,
for a master, for a bloom,
for a promise of a moon that cannot survive the night,
when you can conjure in her scented breath,
the sycophancy of absence,
the servitude of aloneness,
what travesty can you divine,
in the soliloquy of the single,
in the homily of the harlot,
no, no, you cannot think,
that love is a fair friend,
that forever is the waiting beloved
with the enigmatic smile,
reach for the emptiness by your pillow,
feel her beating heart,
she is the enslaved soul of want,
she is the paramour of the moment,
she is what you lost
and what you have found again,
no, solitude is not your friend.

Love the imagery of solitude as occasional lover, but not fulfilling in the long run.
LikeLike
Thank you Bryan.
LikeLike
I especially enjoyed these lines:
in the soliloquy of the single,
in the homily of the harlot,
Such nice use of language throughout.
LikeLike
Thanks so much Susan.
LikeLike
Interesting characterization of solitude here…she means different things to different people. I’m with Victoria, I do enjoy my solitude but there is a balance to be had as well.
LikeLike
she does indeed! thanks so much 🙂
LikeLike
I love how you carve clarity in the faultlines of opposites… maybe being caught in that tension is what defines loneliness (or at least indecision)
LikeLike
Thanks so much Bjorn.
LikeLike
I like this personification of solitude – enticing and yet ultimately betraying you.
LikeLike
Thank you 🙂
LikeLike
Strong and cautionary write my friend, with some delicious writing too – both carried me away and gave me pause for thought too… Thank you…
LikeLike
Thanks so much. Greatly appreciated.
LikeLike
the title and the poem…..it has painted a grey and yellow ochre mixed image of want and loneliness…!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Sree 🙂
LikeLike
Oh my, this is power-packed. While I savor solitude, I absolutely have to balance it with togetherness. There is a huge difference between loneliness and aloneness.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There certainly is…thanks so much Victoria.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very good. But… that is where you meet yourself. 🙂
LikeLike
True, and a very stark/dark meeting that is too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mine was enlightenment ! (after such a meeting… well after many meetings 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
She had me all fooled, the liar.
LikeLike
Ha ha… thanks so much Magaly. Much appreciated.
LikeLike
I like the twist in the ending ~ Great character building to a concept as enigmatic and perplexing as solitude ~
LikeLike
Thanks so much Grace.
LikeLike