Before

His only words
before...

"The loneliness"

Then nothing more.

Author's Note

I don't usually go for this genre of poetry, it's rather short, but the muse gave it to me this way.

Reviews

[Richard🖌]

As in dreams, TS 😌

And, I know you know this: Poetry reflects content of our subconscious minds –- memory, emotion, fear, thought, imagination, etc; literally, nothing is forbidden in dreams or poetry.
As you know, too, when poetry calls, we are often "compelled" to go with the flow, or I know I've written poetry I'd not have, otherwise, except for this irresistibly passionate compulsion that drove me to. Unfortunately, the same compulsion had me post a few of them, much to the chagrin of my readers … LOL!
Some of the deepest, most touted poems I've written have been on loneliness.
For instance:
A Free Verse, "Explaining to a Leaf" https://www.writerscafe.org/writing/RichardJ/2096521/
A Kyrielle, "Softly In My Dreams" http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/RichardJ/1673658/
Another Free Verse, "Beside the Pond" https://www.writerscafe.org/writing/RichardJ/1558954/
to name but a few I know you would find enjoyable, perhaps, instructive, but definitely interesting.

You've packed a load of impact into nine common words, My Friend … from my perspective, it's the exceptional poet who can. Your layout and presentation are weak to the mind's-eye, but from a cellphone, I know you are limited in function and formatting features that would allow you to make an even more impacting composition.
Here's some thought illustrated:

His only word before,

"L o n e l i n e s s"

Then, nothing more.................

Well, after all, it's my way of being grateful to you for sharing your brand of brilliance. Just look at the gaggle of words your little nine-pack inspired (or, 8-pack). 🙃
Thank you, TS, and don't be lonely anymore … we're all here 🤪! ⁓ Richard 🍃

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I take what the muse gives...and here, she gave enough.

we have all felt that loneliness which I imagine is why we write and what we write about.
Your last line leaves a door ajar...and what is on the other side is left up to the reader to decide.
nicely done...less is really more.
j.

[Anastasia]

This is rather short but hitting all the same. The reader feels that loneliness is the most profound and dominant of feelings and it towers over all other things. So if we have everything but we are lonely then we are lost. As humans are by nature gregarious and need company, this counts for a lot. Thank you.

[Inessa]

And loneliness sure can kill. If not strictly like a bullet to the head then like a razor to the wrist. Slow and torturous, the life seeping away drip by drip in the silence. Some short writings are the best and heaviest hitters and this one does that very well. Nice work, TS.

[T.S. Ulmus]

They call them hesitation marks, it takes a few tries beforeor they get serious. I've seen pictures and that's the creepiest part.

Thank you for your review. Not suicidal BTW, I just feel the full range of human emotion.

[Umar Aziz]

This is so sad to read. Like he died.

[Dhara_Ditzy Kat]

You touched us here with few words

[Lorry]

Sometimes less is indeed more and cutting back to the bare bones leaves us staring into the raw ingredients of the problem, which despite its starkness, is where the solution lies.
Writing it is the first step, posting it another huge step and is where we find relief in a problem shared being a problem halved.
I think many will relate to this for the year we have been enduring. Morethan I would care to guess at, but if march to july has taught me anything, it is that goodness does shine through, even in our most vulnerable moments.
To share and bounce ideas off another is something far too precious for it to be taken for granted, but we never realise until we take it for granted. Sods law I believe it's called.
Good luck in finding, or being that, to and for someone.

[T.S. Ulmus]

Thank you for your thoughtful review. Your words have actually changed my mind about this poem. I was insecure about its brevity but now I think maybe she gave it to me in such a skeleton form so that others might read and interpret their own meaning. Thoreau once took a challenge for a 6 word story, he came up with "for sale, baby shoes, never used". A million words of context to be filled in by the reader. I wouldn't be so arrogant as to compare myself to the brilliant wordsmith he was. But thank you for telling me it was worth publishing.

[Lorry]

Holy moley, that that 6 word s are brilliant, totally says more than a book, a life not meant to be.
We do read another version while we read other, relating though with the addition of all the little secrets of our life and the dirty little secrets our minds hold.
Add to that my scrambled mind and its amazing I even hit the target sometimes. 😀

[Chris Shaw]

A little brevity can say an awful lot, and this piece does. Loneliness is a curse and a killer. This short piece speaks volumes and has the imagination going in several directions.

Chris

[T.S. Ulmus]

Thank you for your kind review Chris. I was insecure in posting this one so nice words from a respected poet mean a lot.

[Ana Papaya]

Your muse touched on something with so much depth here.
No more words are needed. I think the rest is up to the reader to just feel.

[T.S. Ulmus]

Thank you for getting it. Sometimes the music is defined by the spaces in between the notes.
Posting so few words has caused me no small amount of anxiety. Having a respected colleague give it a nod is most reaffirming.

[Ana Papaya]

I find the most meaningful pieces to be the shortest.
You're welcome, T.S.