Being Deeply Lonely

Why does that phrase itself—

Found in a discussion

On the ways the brain tries

To make itself conform

To what the social cues

Say is the consensus

Truth—that is, of the costs

Of nonconformity,

Including becoming

Outcast, deeply lonely—

Somehow make it sound good?

Being deeply lonely.

Something about deeply.

It feels rich. It suggests,

Or rather, it echoes,

Falling deeply in love.

If you’re the right reader,

It could suggest a goal,

An ideal loneliness,

Not a mere loneliness—

Being deeply lonely.

No one wants to be that,

Truly, do you? Lonely

As someone castaway,

A deep-space astronaut,

Drifting, alive, never

Anyone to talk to?

How could you? And yet you

Crave something there—that’s true.

Being deeply lonely.