I looked up all the symptoms
Confirming every one
Yet no combination of disease
Helped to explain my condition
The research was for nothing
There was no scan for this
I didn’t need a doctor
And pity was worthless
I heard they called it loneliness
This thing that afflicted me
The prognosis, it was very grim
And specialists did not come cheap
Loneliness? I thought
That’s something for the weak
I have friends, they’re everywhere
So why am I in need?
They hadn’t told me then
That it varies from man to man
That the more I fought to stave it off
The more aggressive it became
Mine, it was the very worst
Not healed by company
Mine looked for something different
Not found in those near me
It looked for what I’d once had
What I’d let slip through my grasp
It demanded from me the one thing
That I could never get back
I heard they called it loneliness
This thing that afflicted me
No cure, they said without a smile
At least, not one that you can reach
The symptoms though! They finally said
Brightening up at last
We can manage them, help you deal
But for that we’ll need your heart
For me that was a trade
That I simply could not make
So I shacked up with loneliness
We split the rent two ways
He keeps to himself, is neat enough
And always pays on time
But the lights go out and he takes up space
Most of which is mine
It could be worse, I tell myself
And I claim there’s no regret
But were I to have my time again
I’d leave the prick on read