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 navigating trauma, identity, and emotional patterns shaped by family and culture.

If you want a simple way to support your mental health, you can join my 1-Minute Mental Health Task, where I share small practice every week to help you build more calm, connection, and well-being in your daily life.