Light and shadows of loneliness.

As the day casts its long shadow homeward

I recognise that so much of it has to do with the light.

They say it is always darkest before the dawn and perhaps that dawn is the realisation that the fear, shame and guilt linger longest in the hours of darkness

and they dance and pirouette amongst the silhouettes and shadows to a tune that beguiles and steals the light.

We light candles, we whisper of hope and future happiness and draw circles in vain to cast aside the demons.

We crave love and long to belong to another so that we have a hand to hold in the darkness a kindred spirit to guide us through the pain and suffering and lamentable servitude to solitude.


Night yields to day and despair drifts away and the endless ebb and flow brings us slowly to the shores of our halcyon dreams.

© Alison Jean Hankinson

This is my contribution for World Mental Health Day. I think loneliness is a huge issue for so many people young and old alike and I think the hours of darkness are able to bring/conjure up their own unique set of torments.

For those who struggle to sleep it seems a long night.

For my girls.

Submitting this for open link night at d’Verse.

Author: alisonhankinson

Walking tall whenever I can.

9 thoughts on “Light and shadows of loneliness.”

  1. You are so right about this. Loneliness is sad and chronic, I think. As we move through the day, especially without support, love, and friendship, evenings seem to stretch forever… but we cannot appreciate the day without the night.

    Liked by 2 people

  2. This has a bit of a hypnotic rhythm to it. I agree with Frank, servitude to solitude stood out for me as well. There are a lot of both hard and soft rhymes aligned non-synchronized with the breaks rendering a soft rhythm like the tides, making that ebb and flow in the last stanza feel like we have been floating there all along.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. I resonate strongly with your words.. sigh.. sometimes I feel like the old days were better.. people had more empathy towards others and were in general nicer human beings. ❤️

    Liked by 2 people

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