Loneliness

I didn’t call it distrust, but what else kept me always on guard, saying only what others wanted to hear, often doing nothing for fear of displeasing? I walked on timid feet. ~ Anonymous, Overeaters. For Today (Kindle Locations 717-719). Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. Kindle Edition.

Trust is freedom from fear.
Loneliness may be ours
but unknown by that name.
It's being in a crowd,
or beside those we live with
but with nobody we know,
at least with no one we feel
knows us, understands us.
We walk on eggshells,
constantly vigilant,
anticipating attack.
If the statement.
"I walk on timid feet"
strikes a cord, rings true,
you are living a life of loneliness.
The woman who wrote as George Elliot
perhaps described us all when she said,
"What loneliness is more lonely
than distrust?"
We who have lived lives
of quiet desperation
are fortunate when we find
a fellowship of our peers
to banish the loneliness
of a crowd and fill our lives
with brotherhood.

...and together we'll walk these steps.

drawing by Katrina Edwards