Don’t get this confused with
any kind of loneliness,

a permanent seat
at a singles table at the wedding,

that feeling
of waiting for the train at night

like you’re the last person
leaving the city,

the seat facing the street
in an empty restaurant,

no-

you are just an island,
your house is here.

You go out swimming,
think you’ve been lost at times

but you were just floating
out in circles for a while.

Preferably not one one of those
Warehouse lilos that

end up in every Christmas bin but one
can never be sure.

We’ve all made mistakes and
redeemed ourselves again.

The point is that you are never
far away. This island is small

and so is the sea that surrounds it,
despite it feeling otherwise at times.

You are your own island,
your house is here.

Once you get this,
a few pulls of your

overarm stroke,
and your own tide can take you home.