Poem: No One to Talk To

No one understands me
No one thinks like me
No one is in the same situation as me
No one gets me

I'm left alone, adrift in the universe
I call out to a god but only hear my own voice answer back
I feel lonely, isolated in my thoughts
An island in mid-Pacific
No flights booked to my airport
No passing ships

I hold in my thoughts and words
Fearing to make a scene
And have others think
I'm weird, strange, deranged
People are so quick to judge
So, for self-protection
I clam up
Keeping the ticking time bomb
Bottled up inside

The astronaut in space
Recorded his log for the
Command base
And whoever would listen
To him in future days
No one really to talk to
But he spoke on
Not worrying that
Only he himself would be
The audience

You, me, each one of us
Need to seek out
An empathetic ear
Yes, the listener may fail
To fully comprehend
Can't 100% put themselves
In your shoes.

No matter.
When you find someone
You trust
Who's not a spy
Working for the other side

Then confide
Let loose
With their permission, of course
It's hard, yes
But don't let those things
Fester in you
Like a wound
Refusing to be healed

People don't have to
Completely understand you
But they can stand with you
And often, that's enough
To help you
Make
It
Through . . .

~ Gunnar Våken