Recently

I made a vow

with my only true compatriot

to never shed a tear

(or two)

to never feel fear,

or need or loneliness

persistent as they are

in getting the best of us -

- there’s a word to avoid

‘us’

and thus

the stirring of the void

that gap, the ache in my ear

the pressure in my sinus

tired and vulnerable,

trying not to find ‘us’

in every other place

rather - seek ‘us’

because though one can

strip a room bare

one cannot find

what isn’t

there