பக்கத்து அறை

loneliness is lying down. it refuses to let me sleep. it rolls and sprawls across the entire bed, making it all its own — this loneliness that dozes on my pillow. i had set aside a corner for it. but now that it has grown so large, i cannot blame it. i moved to the chair beside the bed and sat watching it, hollow-eyed. we know each other too well now — i don't have the heart to wake it. but it is so shy: if anyone else were to lie down near me, it would slip away to the next room. i am waiting for someone to open the door and ask — 'loneliness came and lay down in my bed too. can i come lie down in yours?' the issue is, all of us are only ever waiting, watching the door — none of us willing to knock on the one next to us. — haka