MICHAEL RYAN
Late at night, when you’re so lonely,
your shoulders curl toward the center of your body,
you call no one and you don’t call out.
This is dignity. This is the pure loneliness
that made Christ think he was God.
This is why lunatics smile at their thoughts.
Even the best moment, as you slip
half-a-foot deep into someone you like,
sinks through the loneliness in it
to the loneliness that’s not.
If you believe in Christ hanging on the cross,
his arms spread as if to embrace
the Father he calls who is somewhere else,
you still might hear your own voice
at your next great embrace, thinking
loneliness in another can’t be touched,
like Christ’s voice at death answering Himself.