Prayers from No-man's Land

The idea that another person
can be a medicine for
feeling alone
is merely
a quick-fix fantasy
born out the hunger

to be somewhere other
than here
someone other
than me
to have something other
than what I have got

plastering over the cracks
in who we are

chronic hunger
for an intimacy;
the keys to which
are secreted
in the deep folds
and recesses
of our
esoteric private histories
and not even
love or
companionship
will find them

I am alone
I am a stranger
to myself

I will remain alone
as long as I remain a stranger
to myself