A DESERTED PLACE

At a time
When I believed that I had
Hidden this loneliness of mine
Within myself, away from prying eyes
You ask me
Why I am alone, at all times

Among those who walk, unmoved,
Past the sorrows of my loneliness,
You alone ask me this question, waking
A sadness that’s been buried
So long and deep in my memory

Although I don’t find myself
Unable to give you an answer —
Especially for you, at least —
I must tell you in my endless confusion:
One cannot but be lonely
In a deserted place

I cling
To this loneliness of mine
Like a voice left behind by a stranger
Among the tall hills, now wandering lost
A twig cast away
By waves of the sea

Only when I was totally forsaken did it commence:
This enduring bond of mine with loneliness

Someday, the language wrought
By this loneliness of mine
Might be shaped into verse

This loneliness of mine
Might even meld
Into the sky’s azure,
Acquire its own hue

My life is ebbing away
Beyond the reach of my will
With a loneliness that shall never end,
I am living here still

A DESERTED PLACE