Alone

-Before-

Alone was time to oneself

Space

Room

To grow and think

But also loneliness in a crowd

When I felt no one saw the terror that reigned in my head

Masking it too well had side effects altogether unintended because who could know you if they never saw you?

Alone = Lonely = set apart.

-Now-

All alone behind our own screens with the masks seen and true

Our eyes reaching where our hands cannot

We are alone together, some of us, those left behind

Bonded in our lonely everyone can see and click touch up to hide the bags and tear residue on our faces

I am a ghost in my prior life

Moving farther away from that which I was

To an unknown being who is repelled by and desirous of being encircled by touch and love

-You-

I used to go to Target to be alone.

Space from us who spent far too much time together

I wait

Still

For you to walk in the door

Our minds

Would sometimes make us strangers in the land of our marriage

But now you are becoming just a memory when I need evidence of you most

A photo on a shelf a story told with fondness a limited edition collector's edition human I lost in the move from there to here

Alone = without you