Blessed Be The Lonely On Earth! Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

Blessed Be the Lonely on Earth

Loneliness, loneliness, loneliness!
It is something we feel,
encounter, speak about
or never bother to accept
that it exists so deep inside us.


It can prick us, confront us
when we are alone in so many nights
or even when we are in a big crowd.
It comes in memories we hold dear
and in memories so painful to revisit.


In the midst of dazzling lights, music
and craze with the company of friends,
colleagues or relatives, loneliness strikes us.
Even if we reach the highest top
of the Mt. Everest, loneliness is also
there - a baggage we need to carry on - in
all the dangerous roads or routes we take.



Loneliness is there in all relationships,
in working places and faiths.
Blessed be the lonely on earth
bearing loneliness as real as their own
breath - a continuing baggage for strength -
in their continuing journey to live and serve.
__________________
(2nd poem of EPO in 2019, January 12)