The Call of Solitude
By John Herlihy

Solitude beckons with its solitary finger,
I am anxious to follow, no desire to linger.
Solitude sits there by itself on the horizon.
At the lone point between earth and sky,
The rhythms sent forth by the ocean’s light.
Solitude found in the depths of the night.
Rhythms sent forth by the forest’s shadows,
Solitude found in the blueness of clear skies,
Reflecting a light that feels like inner glow.
A place with no voice, a voice no word,
To listen to the quietest note ever heard.
True place of refuge giving freely of itself,
With no scent but that of wind and rain.
No sound of its own but an immense silence,
Solitude offers nothing that we have to miss,
Except perhaps the feeling it conveys of bliss.
We can thank others for the gift of solitude,
Withdrawn into our own in total quietude.
The heart at home in solitude’s warm embrace,
Behind its curtain, the entire world to efface.