The Lonely Marathon: A Poem About Loneliness, Connection, and Emotional Survival

This is a poem I wrote some time ago. Perhaps it resonates with you. It's called "The Lonely Marathon."

I’m in the race to loneliness

Running at light speed in slow motion

Yet spiraling so fast my stomach felt sick

Never seeing an end in sight

Trudging through this slow,

lonely,

marathon

Alongside an army of beautiful souls

Sprinting at top speed to move just one inch

On the unlit broken roads with the not-quite-yet broken souls

I remain most partially broken

Trapped in a self-envisioned forsakened

Because I am not-quite-yet visioned

Into the brilliant glow that is my resilience

But every now and then I see flickers

And as I bitterly bicker

With the demon of a snicker imagined in my fascination for self torture

I see myself

In my brilliant glow that finally manifests itself

Lighting your face for me to see

It is only then I see your beautiful soul

Trudging alongside me

And I find that

I was never alone

We

Were never alone

Tens, hundreds, thousands

Racing unmovingly to loneliness

Mistakening darkness for emptiness

Yet intuitively just waiting for that unprecedented moment

That moment of destiny

When we reach our self-defined destination

No, it is not just my imagination

You have always walked this marathon with me

We have always walked this marathon together

And finally,

We have lit this road for us to see

That you and me, we were meant to be

Hi, I’m Harry, a psychotherapist in Toronto. I work with 1.5 and second generation Asian Canadians who are navigating trauma, identity, and the emotional patterns shaped by family and culture. You can learn more about my work on my website.