Companion... Poem by Dr. Baishali Bhaumik Mitra

I am never alone;
for loneliness is my companion.
Like a little bird he perches on my soul
holding me in his embrace,
devouring my day and night.
During day when I walk in a crowd
he is there in my shadow;
in the night when I lay awake,
he is there in my sleepless hours.
Sometimes he drops in for a chat
and at times, he would just sit beside
quiet and courteous.
he drapes the silence on my walls,
he adorns the voices that hold me captive.
when my hope is frightened,
my desire is smothered,
my longing is slaughtered,
and my dreams are bruised,
my soul screams and flutter in a frantic
caged panic.
But
Loneliness,
my true companion, never leaves me alone,
he never leaves my side.
Now I wake up wearing the lenses
borrowed from him
and look at the world,
tried and tested, loved and hated
the sounds, smells and reflexes
oddly accepted in a strange resignation
as he keeps holding my hand
forever and always.