Why are we so alone, alone why are we so alone our children gone, our children gone, our wives and lovers flown. old and frail, thin and pale with hearts that turn to stone. Why have we grown, Why have we grown these hearts that turn to stone. The fire is out, the fire is out— we are chilled clean through to the bone. The sky is grey most every day and we are still alone, We try to rest, but it’s not best that we should rest alone, especially when the fire is out and we are chilled clean through to the bone. If we must sleep, then let us sleep with one we call our own, to have and keep, to keep and have, and yet we are still alone. In dreams we hear the oceans sing, but these songs are not our own. We are old and frail, thin and pale, our hearts have turned to stone. The sky is grey most every day a faceless, lifeless dome. We search for one that we might love and find nobody home.
Good morning, @April Whalley, and thank you for restacking this. It’s been a busy season, thus far, and I have been so busy with my own work that it’s often hard to check out all the other work I follow in Substack.
Merry Christmas, April, and may the New Year bring you all the Best!
Thank you Paul and a Merry Christmas to you. I have been in creative doldrums for a while now due to life being ….. hmm, challenging, is the best description. I look forward to coming back and joining in again . This poem really spoke to me, I love the rhythm you have found here.
I am truly sorry if anyone feels these words in their life. Nearing 80 and with no one beside me, find I am content with my life, with the small family around me, the fresh air and sweet company of my dogs on our morning walk. Every day upright is a gift.
You capture the sorrow of those moments when being alone feels unbearable...for many, a human phenomenon we'd rather not confront. Like a true poet, you rather run into the feeling of it...and give it voice. Thank you🙏❤️
So sad, Paul. But I feel we share some of this together as it must eventually be for each of us. Old age and the aloneness it brings is a natural part of life hitting us in the face. As an elder, I am familiar with the fact of just being without others who meant so much through time. But, you are there - or here, as the case may be. Let's celebrate that as long as we can use the time left to wonder and create!
Absolutely. I will finish my 77th year in 6 months, and I’m not sad. Oma Rose. So long as I can still write and get letters addressed to me and not to “Occupant,” I’m fine.
Paul, this was truly incredible, an instant classic to be enshrined in Poetry's halls. The simplest words conveying the deepest emotions of the human heart. I know this is a dark solemn piece, but sometimes you have to "exorcise" these emotions out of your system - and this is done through poetry. Really, if you recited this to Hades, he would let Eurydice go back up to earth with you.
A very sad poem, which i can relate to. In my opinion, the reason we're so alone is that we're not taught much about real values in life in our formative years. I won't go into much detail here, but i can explain more if you're interested.
There are so many reasons, Negar: loss of values, loss of community, loss of faith in our fellow man, denial of a common set of facts, mistaking opinion for truth…all of these, and more, can create a sense of alienation, that sense of anomie, Durkheim first identified at the end of the 19th Century.
For as long as you feel your heart turning into a lonely stone and finding the words to cry over it, you’re not alone. Your heart is not yet a stone. Merry Christmas🎄
I just have to quote the song “I wish you shelter from the storm, Cozy fire to keep you warm, I wish you health and more than wealth, I wish you Love”. May your holidays be filled with joy. Daniel
Reading this, while being crammed into a plane with a hundred of my new best friends… and thinking about the vastness of loneliness… you can feel it all around… but also reflecting on the occasional brilliant light of love… both exist. And both are part of the adventure… wheels up soon… Godspeed to all, and hope, and Merry Christmas.
Thanks, Paul. You completed my thoughts about this. Yes, there are so many reasons (In my case, loss of values and not finding a community i can belong to, constantly and subconsciously comparing myself with others, and finally, not wanting to put myself first are the reasons i feel so alone).
Good morning, @April Whalley, and thank you for restacking this. It’s been a busy season, thus far, and I have been so busy with my own work that it’s often hard to check out all the other work I follow in Substack.
Merry Christmas, April, and may the New Year bring you all the Best!
Thank you Paul and a Merry Christmas to you. I have been in creative doldrums for a while now due to life being ….. hmm, challenging, is the best description. I look forward to coming back and joining in again . This poem really spoke to me, I love the rhythm you have found here.
Yes, April, challenging times for many of us. Let’s lift a class of cheer and toast to better days ahead!
I am truly sorry if anyone feels these words in their life. Nearing 80 and with no one beside me, find I am content with my life, with the small family around me, the fresh air and sweet company of my dogs on our morning walk. Every day upright is a gift.
I’m with you, cookropi. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts on this. But, most of all, Merry Christmas!
Await in the night
Solstice arrives 9:21am.
Light a candle.
Banish the darkness.
Return to the light.
Not alone able to see.
Through the next day.
9:21 am Greenwich mean time.
Thank you, Richard
You capture the sorrow of those moments when being alone feels unbearable...for many, a human phenomenon we'd rather not confront. Like a true poet, you rather run into the feeling of it...and give it voice. Thank you🙏❤️
Yes, Jane, as if the writing is way of confronting those feelings and purging or overcoming the negativity they can cause
So sad, Paul. But I feel we share some of this together as it must eventually be for each of us. Old age and the aloneness it brings is a natural part of life hitting us in the face. As an elder, I am familiar with the fact of just being without others who meant so much through time. But, you are there - or here, as the case may be. Let's celebrate that as long as we can use the time left to wonder and create!
Absolutely. I will finish my 77th year in 6 months, and I’m not sad. Oma Rose. So long as I can still write and get letters addressed to me and not to “Occupant,” I’m fine.
Now that is really dark, Paul.
Paul, this was truly incredible, an instant classic to be enshrined in Poetry's halls. The simplest words conveying the deepest emotions of the human heart. I know this is a dark solemn piece, but sometimes you have to "exorcise" these emotions out of your system - and this is done through poetry. Really, if you recited this to Hades, he would let Eurydice go back up to earth with you.
Thank you, V P. & Merry Christmas, my friend!
Merry Christmas Paul!
Winter's night
Winter's blight
One heart
All alone
And we find nobody home
I love this line. The constant searching for someone. I love.this poem
Thank you, Chad
A very sad poem, which i can relate to. In my opinion, the reason we're so alone is that we're not taught much about real values in life in our formative years. I won't go into much detail here, but i can explain more if you're interested.
There are so many reasons, Negar: loss of values, loss of community, loss of faith in our fellow man, denial of a common set of facts, mistaking opinion for truth…all of these, and more, can create a sense of alienation, that sense of anomie, Durkheim first identified at the end of the 19th Century.
They may not be home, but they will be back.
Will they be known?
If recognized.
For as long as you feel your heart turning into a lonely stone and finding the words to cry over it, you’re not alone. Your heart is not yet a stone. Merry Christmas🎄
Grateful for your thoughts on this, Rostislava, thank you & Merry Christmas!
Beautiful but made me cry. My heart breaks for widows and widows this time of year.
I just have to quote the song “I wish you shelter from the storm, Cozy fire to keep you warm, I wish you health and more than wealth, I wish you Love”. May your holidays be filled with joy. Daniel
May your holidays be filled with joy, too, Daniel.
Reading this, while being crammed into a plane with a hundred of my new best friends… and thinking about the vastness of loneliness… you can feel it all around… but also reflecting on the occasional brilliant light of love… both exist. And both are part of the adventure… wheels up soon… Godspeed to all, and hope, and Merry Christmas.
Thank you, Joshua, you’re on your way back home? Merry Christmas, my Friend, Merry Christmas.
Yes… just landed in Seattle… one more quick flight to get home. Merry Christmas to you, too.
OMG… it’s so warm down here! White Christmases are overrated! (You can only say that if you’re traveling home from Alaska!). Great song, though.
Thanks, Paul. You completed my thoughts about this. Yes, there are so many reasons (In my case, loss of values and not finding a community i can belong to, constantly and subconsciously comparing myself with others, and finally, not wanting to put myself first are the reasons i feel so alone).