I walk alone now unlike as in the days of long ago when there was company and the crowd and there was clamor and noise⦠but smiling time dispersed all things and beings; time forked the paths as many as veins in a leaf and made each man and woman and child shake hands or hug and wave goodbyes; and so I walk alone now in solitary ways
I let all things go the past and pain and sorrows and the yearnings and mind's hustle and bustle And so one is on the path that opens at one's feet And the earth and the trees and the air and sky and the water and clouds keep the still heart company in one's long walk to one's own shed
...do remember as you consider the poem that to be alone is not the same as being lonely... (companion picture: Landscape with a Solitary Traveler by Yosa Buson)