Alone

18 January 2014 - I attended a writer's workshop, and took the bus into town. From the time I got to my local bus terminal, on the bus, walking through the halls to the library, and waiting in the library foyer, I felt invisible. No-one made eye contact, and I thought of the many times this same thing has happened. That inspired this poem.

Do you feel alone in a crowd?
Do you feel unwelcome?
Invisible, although you know
You're nothing less than human.
But no-one looks you in the eye,
It's like they just don't see you.
You don't create an impact,
You don't engage their view.
It doesn't matter what you wear
Or how outrageous your shoes,
Their attention focuses elsewhere,
You're not a vista they choose.
They pass you by, engaged in thought
Few of them ever smile.
They're wrapped up in their troubled world,
Never going the extra mile.
Perhaps one day their world will crash
And then they'll wander too,
Looking for that twinkling eye
That says that's someone's seen you.
They'll smile shyly, desperate hope
That this time someone's seen
They're not invisible - never were,
They're a living, breathing being.