Otherwise
Loneliness is an old
friend
who respects
your privacy.
He knows
when
to interrupt.
A person alone is
a limb on the water
and
a flash in the black.
We have much to offer, but
only
to the desperate.
Happy people rarely
call, and
we can always
cling
to ourselves.
Solitude is
solid,
and one’s
own two feet
are sure
enough.
And a breeze on a blanket covers
two better than one.
And sharing two hands
on one umbrella
is a nice way
to get wet.
But the rain
is just another name
my mother didn’t claim
for me
or my brother.
The rain could be
my other
brother.
But there is
no
other.
It’s nice to walk
together
and talk
together;
To realize
a moment
in the eyes
of another.
But there is
no
other.
It’s nice to rock ‘n roll
and
a whole cigarette
seems
much too much.
It’s always nice to share.
It’s nice to sing
a song
into
a kiss’s
mouth.
But a kiss
too
is also
a song.
And every mouth’s
the same
mouth
mouthing
the same
word.
And a song is
a word.
And a kiss
too
is a
word we sing
to each other.
But there is
no
other.
And the summer green
that the red leaves smother
turns winter white
on barnyard shutters
where a spring time breeze
makes mews and mutters
“There is
no
other.”
Stay Awake!
Joe Nolan <3
