you have made a lover of your pain,
hugging it close: a drowning man
clinging to a stone.
you pet and feed it; it bites your hand.
you hug it closer; its teeth find bone.
you don't complain.
you claim to spend your life alone,
but fear is your wife -- dull and plain:
you're a married man.
dear heart, forgive my puzzled jealousy;
for all I understand, I cannot see
why you would rather hug your fears than me.
-- GPL Aug 2005 D. A. Clarke