Loneliness is the little lost pup
Creeping, crawling, reaching up
Loneliness creeps into the souls of men
Like the dying dog creeps into the pen

Lonliness, like the one who's lost the way
Cries in the hearts of rejected lovers
Loneliness, like the wounded blue jay
SHivers at night, like a man with no covers

Loneliness, in everything one says and worse
Makes people hate each other
Loneliness speaks through every curse
That one utters to his own brother

Loneliness, a man without a home
Reads as the forgotten part of every tome
Loneliness, a drink served in every bar
Was felt as if one was feathered and tarred

I have seen Loneliness and 'tis not a pretty sight
It attacks during the day and especially at night
When we start to dream in our silent domiciles
There is no escape though we run many miles

Loneliness always attacks unexpectedly
An intruder one does not hear or see
Loneliness takes hold of ye
And reguses to let ye be

--Rick Bentsen
1991

I wrote this piece as a class assignment in high school some time ago. The assignment was to personify an emotion that I was, at the time, feeling.. Ironically, this had more of an affect on my teacher than it had on me.... perhaps I was numbed to the feeling by then...