All The Lonely People: Loneliness By Felicity Lennie.

Another in the series of Loneliness poems, from our All the Lonely People Anthology. This time, the wonder Felicity Lennie joins us. I love the straightforward simplicity of this poem, and I am sure you will too. Sometimes, I think the most simple words are the most powerful. Thank you Felicity for all you do. And Steffen Büchner’s painting is a wonderful accompaniment. Thank You, Steffan.

Art By Steffen Büchner

Loneliness
Felicity Lennie

At the fourth ringing tone
I picked up the phone….
“Don’t be alone,” he said.
“In that lonely house on that lonely estate on that lonely isle”

He couldn’t see my smile.
I loved solitude.

“It’s such a pity
Come back to the City
You’re far too pretty to hide away
“In that lonely bed in that lonely room in that lonely place”

He sounded concerned, he cared.
Should I relent?

“Forget the pain
We could try again
You’ll go insane“ he continued
“On that lonely rock in that lonely bay in that lonely sea”

He wouldn’t understand
I was happy.

“I like it alone”
I said down the phone
“It’s great on my own” I explained,
“In this lone house with my lone dog in this lone place.”

I was talking to silence…he’d gone.

In his lonely flat in the lonely block on the lonely street of the City
In loneliness he died,
Suicide.©

About Dr Niamh

When I was a little girl (a very, very long time ago), I used to love learning new, really big words like ‘discombobulate’. As I grew, my love of words grew too, until I loved them so much, I could not stop writing them down. One day, as I was scribbling a particular word, a very peculiar thing happened. The word shouted at me, “Stop! Don’t put me there!” As you can imagine, I was shocked and nearly fell off my chair. When I recovered somewhat, I said to the word, “Could you stop shouting, please? I am not used to it.” Can you guess what happened next? No! I thought not. The word said, “I might be small, but I will misbehave if you do not use me properly. I will not tell the story you would like me to tell. I will say something entirely different!” I dropped my pen. I hoped that by dropping my pen, the word would stop talking. Alas! It did not. It carried on chitterchobbling, even after the ink had dried. I was in a pickle. I could not allow my words to run away with my story, now could I? I don’t know about you, but when this sort of thing happens, there is only one thing left to do if you prefer not to spend your time arguing. “Very well,” said I. “I will do as you ask if you will just be quiet and allow me to concentrate.” Since that day, I have been paying special attention to every word I invite into my stories. After all, a story should say exactly what it means to say and not be led astray. With love from Dr. Niamh, Ph.D in Learning Through The Imagination and Founder of Dr Niamh Children's Books. www.drniamhchildrensbooks.com

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