People use to go off into the desert to be alone. Really alone. Today we turn off the TV. Or go for a walk on the beach with the seagulls and the other loners...
Or retreat into our work, into good causes, into ourselves and not let on how we hurt. How we don't want to be alone, but are afraid. So afraid we prefer not to be touched, not to touch... Untouched individuals abound in crowded cities, lonely hermits in the crowd.
© Farmer 26 January 1996