Loneliness Prevails
by Michael Doyle

Across the world exists a billion private hells.
It is a place where loneliness prevails.
The struggle is with interpersonal trust and vulnerability.
Alienation pervasively crushes the human commnunity.

Each of our hearts silently cries out for more.
Hoping that those we love will never go away
Or, maybe not even knowing how to reach out
To someone else and hold the hand filled with doubt

I watch from my corner, hidden in the shadow,
Wanting so badly for the world to learn and know
That it's not about reaching out in all directions
But to finding the true heart and makin real connections.

A hazardous as it is, it's quality over quantity.
It's not a lack of company, but a need for intimacy.
What we need is to be loved and truly known
For our authentic selves not for the masks we've shown.

It isn't mere presence. It's consistency and positivity.
These things take the hardest thing, vulnerability.
It is the shared context of keeping close proximity
That is the only way to unravel life's consistency.

Anything short of this, is at best, an imperfect solution
To the inner struggle that requires its resolution.
Expensive distractions and false promises quickly end.
What's needed by all is at least one true friend.

Spent time is not a "to-do" to be crossed from a list.
If you think this, there is something that you've missed.
To have a true friend, you must yourself be a true friend
And this brings poem to its poignant, necessary end.

(c) April 23, 2025   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved