solitude

"religion is for those afraid to go to hell.
spirituality is for those who've been there."
--unknown

scarcely can one recognize solitude
because when it arrives, at barren midnight,
with its caravan of mirrors and
echoing halls,
solitude reveals its hidden dimension,
its multitude.

count yourself alone, count your
self as one, but continue to count
as the numbers of solitude mount.
there exists a host of names,
a range of faces, pantheons,
ghosts and phantoms, these angels
and demons,
and those ancient whispers.

solitude is a multitude.

the business of hell is personal:
the personality of hell is business:
the company of one's self
and the workforce of the soul.
perhaps it is better
to bury oneself in work, in love
or in play, to consume all manner of things,
literature and entertainment,
or to be consumed by it.
some find it better to run,
running programs, courses,
running in circles or running
their endless, nonsensical mouth,
others run to church,
on their knees,
running.

if you're like me, godless and
averse to churches like the plague,
you welcome hell like healing herbs,
as a sacred sacrament to cure
the illness of our cultural solitude.
the best bread is baked
in the oven of hell:
the best way to confront solitude
is to befriend its shadow multitude.