Loneliness is not a void

· by · in poetry, sonnet. ·

Your loneliness is not a weightless void
it’s not the darkness of a hollowed heart.
Your loneliness is lead and plans destroyed,
it’s blood and bones, the undertaker’s cart.

Your loneliness is not a burden shared
it thrives in cities and grows strong on farms,
it hides in corners were its teeth are bared,
a beast to trap you in its thousand arms.

Your loneliness is daylight darkness, snow
in midst of summer, acid, needles, dung,
a slow decay and sudden pangs; it grows
it smothers, leave you senseless, empty, wrung.

But in your darkness you can reach and taste
my warmth and let your desolation be erased.

Loneliness by Paul Delvaux

Today at dVerse Jilly wants us to make things visual that are not. Put colors, weight and forms into things that cannot be seen.
—-
August 7, 2018

46 responses to “Loneliness is not a void”

  1. Oh yes, you can feel loneliness but you can really see it.I love the image, which fits well with the subject of the poem, Bjorn. I especially enjoyed the lines:
    ‘Your loneliness is daylight darkness, snow
    in midst of summer, acid, needles, dung,
    a slow decay and sudden pangs; it grows
    it smothers, leave you senseless, empty, wrung’
    and what a wonderful ending!.

  2. Outstanding sonnet! Bravo for building to that third stanza; it really packs a punch with word choices and then you bring it home with sweetness in the couplet. Impressed deeply.

  3. This is very beautiful and meaningful. The slow sense of dying and decay that flows through this is immense.
    it’s blood and bones, the undertaker’s cart.

  6. Oh, that first line is so strong into itself. Your way with a sonnet is so natural and true to its form. I really admire your craftsmanship. And the closing couplet is plain wonderful.
    -HA

  8. Nice description of the terror associated with loneliness: “it hides in corners were its teeth are bared,
    a beast to trap you in its thousand arms.”

  9. You ain’t afraid of no sonnet; smile. This fine piece is dark and dusky, but it perks up with the couplet, capturing the mantle of Romantic. In the movie ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE, Robert Blake said, “Hell, loneliness can kill you faster than a .357 Magnum.”

  10. I think you know loneliness rather well Bjorn. You have painted it more clearly than many do. A powerful poem of it for sure. Your poetry never disappoints!.

  15. That third stanza reaches right for the chest, and grabs hold… I love the closing couplet, what if offers… how it reminds the subject that although things look quite grim, within the grimness wonder can be found.

  16. Moving depiction of depression – and how someone can love a person when they are in the throes of it. .That is a wonderful sort of magic.

  20. This is simply just so lovely Bjorn. Thank you. Just this morning I was contemplating how someone could work fecal matter into a truly lovely poem (the universe is not a sum of its parts, just all of its parts together – so everything should be fair game). and here you work it in richly to produce some lovely fertile ground. I guess love can grow out of loneliness. Wonderful sonnet. By the way, I did a satirical post in earnest tribute to dVerse while you were away in July. You are a character in it. Might make you laugh, and did you invent the Quadrille? You might want to look at “Broken Quadrille” on my site when you get a chance. Hope it would make you smile. THANKS!! for this sonnet. Lona.

  23. Bjorn, you know how much I love your sonnets, and this is a new favourite. What I most appreciate is your adherence to form combined with the post modern terminology and subject matter. It shows the timelessness of this form.

  24. you’ve captured the essence of loneliness, of despair, of the unseen and often unnameable in a very interesting fashion Bjorn – I particularly like the use of the images you’ve chosen, they carry interesting visuals and add the depth to this, making something so “abstracted” real – for the touch and “taste” – and wow, I really loved how you used that word “taste” in the ending –
    a most unexpected gift – (not only for the poetic quality) as it is a gift offered to someone, an outreach of hope, perhaps promise of some form of comfort and solace ….

    wonderful poem Bjorn 🙂

  27. I agree with Laura Bloomsbury. You certainly do, and this is lovely and sad and then hopeful. It’s a beautiful sonnet. I love how the rhyme simply blends into it the whole, but it’s not intrusive. The image is perfect. I was kind of imagining an Edward Hopper painting while I read.

  29. kaykuala
    But in your darkness you can reach and taste
    my warmth and let your desolation be erased.

    Obviously there is a remedy to depression and loneliness from someone’s warmth!

    Hank

  30. Loneliness is a powerful myth — our wandering solitary sorrow, midst a shouting world — you do a great job carving it but the lysis doesn’t quite pack enough of what it means to unlock that heavy gate.

  31. SO powerful, Bjorn.
    This line, so desolate: “it’s blood and bones, the undertaker’s cart.”
    And your words show that loneliness can be everywhere…but in the end of your write, there is hope.
    I’ve often thought to explore the differences between loneliness and solitude.

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