Finding Souls Between Their Legs

"Come to my house one afternoon,

my bed's unmade for all lovers of mine,

we will find ourselves at our wildest & truest 

when we reach the third bottle of wine.

 

You can kiss me roughly, and push me down,

and I will tell you once more -

though you know thirty per cent of what I am,

tonight you can be hundred per cent my man."

 

I've always wondered what happens when two lonely souls meet. Are they able to recognize each other through their masks - of verbosity or sullenness?  Is there repulsion of seeing someone who also suffers? Or is loneliness a magnet?

 

What ensues? Deep sharing? A slow fanning of embers, to seek life in what is moribund? Love- as something you can't help feeling? Or Lovemaking as an empty surrogate, which makes you lonelier after the act is done and done with?

 

Loneliness is difficult to confess; difficult too to categorize. It can run deep in the being of a person, as much a part of one’s self as talking easily or having skin which glows.

 

As Olivia Laing says in her haunting book "The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone" -

 

"Loneliness is personal, and it is also political. Loneliness is collective; it is a city. As to how to inhabit it, there are no rules and nor is there any need to feel shame, only to remember that the pursuit of individual happiness does not trump or excuse our obligations to each another. We are in this together, this accumulation of scars, this world of objects, this physical and temporary heaven that so often takes on the countenance of hell. What matters is kindness; what matters is solidarity. What matters is staying alert, staying open, because if we know anything from what has gone before us, it is that the time for feeling will not last."

 

Are you lonely? Write in. We'll share a poem or two. Maybe a smile.

 

If you liked this poem, consider listening to these other poems which talk of loneliness and yearning - 

• These Darned Long Distance Relationships
• Hope is Merely Fear With a Poor Choice of Lipstick
• Love is an Unreasonable Yearner

Find other magical things, like a lovely free chapbook of poems, and other resources here.

 

Uncut Poetry has started a new Podcast called Red River Sessions (on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, etc), where we will talk to published poets, about their poetry, their craft and what haunts them. It is brought to you by Red River, which is the premier independent publisher of poetry books, and Uncut Poetry. 

 

I am Sunil Bhandari.

 

I am a poet based out of India. My book of poetry 'Of Love and Other Abandonments' was an Amazon bestseller. My second book is 'Of Journeys & Other Ways to Get Lost'. Both are available on Amazon.

Follow me on Instagram at @sunilgivesup.

Get in touch with me on uncutpoetrynow@gmail.com

 

The details of the music used in this episode are as follows -

Misty Lights  by Rafael Krux
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5686-misty-lights-
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license