Lonely 4 Love

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Love won’t play by normal conventions

we can’t protect ourselves

from its emotional bindings

love grabs

takes us as a hostage

keeps us captive and captivated

whether we want it to or not

too much to handle

hermits hide away

hurt from love in plain sight

alone in one bedroom

invisible in apartments

skulking in public

or fantasy gaming

without human contact

except for home delivery

sans touch

some love pets too much

making cats

birds

dogs

rats

their world

pulling away from the real

inventing fake worlds

for themselves

wasting isolated unsocial lives

where nobody hears

or intuits their thoughts

their needs unmet

some wants stay wanting

dismissed

some hoard loneliness

they’re not comfortable

risking another death to the soul

until that hurt

that half-love that never really was

is buried so deep

there’s no threat of remembering

or resurfacing-chancing a stab

at love again