Loneliness

Insidiously inching forward
Along exposed skin surfaces,
Loneliness crawls up fingertips and toes,
Seeking cover in the knuckles and hollows,
Before steadily creeping onward,
Camouflaged by fine hair covering,
Virtually undetected,
Dashing amongst the freckles,
Taking cover in the creases,
Scouting for cracks and crevices.

Even though armed
With family and friends,
Work and activities,
In the quiet moments,
In the dreaming moments,
Ever-alert Loneliness can find
Weaknesses in the defense system,
Slipping through an opening
Penetrating enemy territory,
Invading along veins.

Persistently pushing inward,
Loneliness overpowers lookout nerve endings,
Knocks out brain-wave alarms,
Infiltrating every sector,
Finally storming the command center;
Bludgeoned and bloodied by the warfare,
Dying and unable to fight the enemy any longer,
The Mind succumbs unequivocally
To the all-consuming, controlling,
Dark Forces of Loneliness.

Loneliness reigns by reaching out its tentacles,
Wrapping around each brain cell,
Each half-formed thought,
Suffusing every organ and tendon,
Every square inch of skin
With a deep-rooted, unsatisfied, gnawing hunger
That permeates even the deepest sleep
With a pervasive, unrelenting, raw need;
Loneliness burns from the darkest recesses of the soul
Dominating each nanosecond of Life.