Loneliness, My Lover

My lover is loneliness. He loves me like no other. He whispers to me every second, “You can fear death but don’t fear me, for I will not leave you.”

He smiles and is never angry. He smells like weeks-old sheets because I sleep with him too long. When I try to walk away, he taps on my shoulder. I turn around. His empty gaze penetrates me.

“Why do you leave?” He asks. “My musty breath, my hard hands, and my ice embrace await you. I exist for you”, he says. I take his hands and put them on my cheeks. I wish that his hard hands would thaw at my warmth. He cries and begs me to love him.

“Embrace me,” he says, “Let me mark your body black and blue. Let me hide you away from the world. Let me wrap my fingers around your neck. Let me consume you inch by inch, atom by atom.” I look at his pitiful eyes and shed a tear. I nod my head, and I tell him, “I can never say no to you”.