I dodged her conversation,

Turned the corner when I saw her,

Sent her calls to voicemail.

To acknowledge her was

to allow her access to the intangible I’d buried;

Memories of sticky fingers, more than just mine,

Waves of laughter echoing off of wine stems

A gaze across the room, returned and kind

And to respond to her request to enter was

To quell a numbness I wasn’t ready to feel:

Sterile, clean countertops

Unfamiliar, unemotional noise

Unoccupied corners and mirrors reflecting just one

But she was persistent and so

After I’d exhausted all possibility of escape

After seasons and visitors of other fragrances

Had come and gone

I let her in on a cold afternoon.

“Hello, Loneliness,” my voice defeated, tired.

She glanced over me softly

But neither my dragging feet nor my exasperation

Towards her presence seemed to matter;

Her visit was intentional, ineludible

Loneliness made herself comfortable.

She made tea and baked cookies.

She let the light in through the shades

And dusted off the book on my nightstand

Loneliness stayed.

She planted lavender and watered growth

She tucked me in and whispered affirmations

And in her company I paradoxically learned

The quiet essence of self

We became friends, she and I; inextricably tied

Until one day I arose to find her things packed and sitting by the door.

My anxious wanting followed her, my voice lagging behind

“I don’t believe you’ll be needing me anymore,” Loneliness smiled

The same smile she arrived with, now the taste

Of the brown sugar that adorned my kitchen

Soft, like butter and the truth she incanted over me

I was not ready to accept her leaving

But she was persistent and so

With one final glance towards the trail of warmth she left

“It was so lovely to share this with you” my voice

Or hers: I wasn’t sure.