The Lonely

Do trees in the forest long to join roots with other bark-bearing plants? Do islands in an archipelago dream of joining together with other land masses? Do stars in the night sky gravitate toward other distant points of light in their constellations? None of these things chooses to be alone; yet, if they could choose, would they choose to be otherwise?

I have legs to carry me from one location to another. I have a mouth and a voice to communicate my thoughts. I have arms to embrace the world and those within the world. I am, both, one and one of many; yet I am as alone as any tree or island or star; quiet in the forest, isolated by ocean waves, or lost in the vastness of space. Alone is not lonely. Lonely is not alone.