Solitude

cowgirl-eragny-1887
Cowgirl, Eragny, 1887 by Camille Pissarro from google

Be merry, and your friends are legion;
Cry, and you cry all alone.

Sing, and the vales and the brooks will answer;
Sigh, and it echoes on the ether.

Smile, and men will seek you;
Wail, and they turn and go.

No one will refuse your best wine,
But alone you must drink spleen.

Bloom, and it helps you live;
But no one can help you die.

There is room in the grand ballroom of pleasure,
But one by one we go thru the tiny alley of pain.