I wonder how others
spend their time alone.

Do they read,
enchanted by stories
of unknown lands and
beautiful people?

Do they watch films,
enticed by moving shapes
and colors?

Can one say they are alone,
then, when immersed so
thoroughly in another world?

I, well, I’ve tried these
acts of aloneness
to only find companionship.

Thousands of lives I’ve visited.
I’ve drunk with dwarves,
waltzed with princes,
escaped with bandits, and
mourned with lovers.

So, what is it that people
do when fully alone —
alone with no necessary tasks
to complete, no songs
to sing harmony with,
no smiles to return?

I guess it’s only fair
for me to share, for
I felt silly in my games
when this question arose.

I spin around in rolling chairs, kneeling
to see better out the window,
pretending I am a pirate at sea.

I walk in nature,
laughing when I stumble on tree roots,
pausing to turn my body towards the sun.

I write
words and words and words
to make sense of the
conversations in my head —
like I have here.

What do you do when alone?
Is it uncomfortable?

Do you find compassion
in the arms of fictional
characters created to
fill the space around
your soft body?

Do you ache, like I,
sometimes?