we were made to be together

the horizontal crack on my phone screen
is the latest word from the gods below
the same ones who always, always take an ice cube when i'm filling my glass

they called it
face down in the bathroom
stone tile
from only a foot up
but it was enough

your loneliness starts here
they said
it runs from this side to that side, along the fault line
but it can end here, too
when you decide to not fix it
or replace it

everything ends
sometimes sooner is better

my friend believes
and he's convinced me
that we humans are pod animals
not meant to be alone
no self to speak of
cartesian thought one of the greatest tricks ever played

my loneliness comes from that place

and the teacher of orphan wisdom
reminds me that all those self-help shelves
in the bookstore
are self-fulfilling
resulting in more self
more books
and more selves in need of books about helping themselves

they only dig the trench deeper
and with it the lonliness
that I reckon we all feel
staring into that deep vast space called
internet
where it all seems to be happening
but we're not getting that same effect

we were made to be together
mediated by flame and moonlight
and the sound of real voices and breath
within arm's reach

we were made to be together