To Be Alone.
As a child I always felt, I was always on my own.
As a teenager I was reminded I was always alone.
Slept with anyone so I would not be totally alone.
I got married because I did not want to be alone.
Suffered the unhappy marriage, so I was not alone.
I drank stupidly because I did not want to be alone.
I took drugs because I didn’t want to be on my own.
I tried to commit suicide; I didn\'t want to be alone.
Now I’m an old man and all the voices have grown.
Sat at home looking back, and longing to be alone.
Tobani August (2024).