O! Quiet friend, unseen yet near,

Your softness lingers—

Tucked away in the silent corners

Of crowded rooms.

You instruct the heart to thrum alone.

Beating to its own rhythm—

A melody unlike any other,

A melody meant for one.

Where echoes outlast a vengeful conversation,

You remain as scorch marks,

Reminders of what once was—

And why it can never be again.

In your warm embrace, I grasp the essence of ache—

Of fear, of dreaming, of desire.

The scars that time cannot undo,

Yet which rivet the soul.

A welcome respite at the end of a weary journey;

A candle burned long past midnight,

Awaiting a fatigued vagabond,

Arms open wide.

Though you hold me in a swaddle of desolation,

I do not feel this exile to be a punishment—

Or even an exile at all,

But rather it is a quiet victory.

The kind which painters illustrate,

The kind which poets write about,

The kind which performers weep for,

The kind which I now possess.

Amongst the company of twinkling stars,

Amongst the glory of the gods,

Amongst Oizys herself-

Is where I find you.

So stay, dear Loneliness, stay if you must.

Your company has carved space in my soul.

I walk with you from dawn till dusk,

Playing you a rhythm of my own.

Biography

Maddie (Madeline) Zhuravel Freshman: For fun I like to read, write, and bake!

What is your main source of inspiration?

My main source of inspiration is the media I consume-this includes music, cinema, and television.

What motivated you to write this piece, and what is its message?

I was motivated to write this piece after watching The Martian (believe it or not); it moved me to realize that lonely is not always alone and that being alone doesn’t mean being lonely.