Poetry competition Second Prize: Jo Matthews – “Lonely”
18 Jul 2019 / News
Lonely
You’re lying close enough
that your eyes are black liquid stars
and I can count the constellations
of new sugar freckles on your skin
and taste your breath in mine.
And you tell me that you’re lonely
not lonely alone, but something deeper
and more tangled that took you under,
and you wonder if it might soften
if you were surrounded by people
calling your name, or if you could
taste the salt of your mum’s gyoza
again, or if your phone blinked back
more messages of assent, or if this
yawn of empty feeling could be stuffed
shut with stuff. You’re close enough
that you can feel my heart beat back
and see in my eyes: that I am lonely too
and roughly reflected there you see
that as sure as we have eyes to shine
and skin to freckle and breath to breathe
we will forever get lost in our loneliness
wandering tightly together, always alone
until we find where we know is home.
