Pub. #5- What will your verse be?

Loneliness is a state of being alone in one’s thought process and ideals. In the poems, “Loneliness” and “How the mind works still to be sure” by Fanny Howe and Jennifer Denrow respectively, they discuss the struggles of loneliness. Loneliness stems from the fear of the unknown and failure. Loneliness is intertwined with the song “I get lonely too” by Drake, in which he explains his breakup with his girlfriend. Loneliness is exhibited through isolation, fear, and depression. In the poem, Loneliness by Fanny Howe, Fanny describes loneliness as an escape or isolation. “Your character flaws remain in place. You still stop in with friends and have wonderful hours among them, but you must run as soon as you hear it calling. It does call” (Howe 13-16). Even though one has friends, loneliness is still present. So, the person struggling with isolation enjoys being alone. In addition, isolating oneself from others leads to fear. Loneliness examines the fear of adapting a new lifestyle. People who are lonely have the fear of change. In the poem, Loneliness by Fanny Howe, Fanny said, “and you climb the stairs obediently, pushing aside books and notes to let it know that you have returned to it, all is well” (Howe 16-18). The tone of this line indicates the person is performing a routine. Routines are supposed to help people escape fallibility. In essence, routines help escape change, thus ridding oneself of failure or fear. The last stage of loneliness is depression. “Shame at existing in the first place. Shame at being visible, taking up space, breathing some of the sky, sleeping in a whole bed, asking for a share” (Howe 42-44). The definition of depression is exhibited through this quote. Someone who exhibits the struggle of depression does not enjoy what life has to offer such as their appearance, sleeping, and breathing. Every day they go through drowns their energy, thus making it hard to enjoy life. In the poem, “How the mind works still to be sure” by Jennifer Denrow, Jennifer discusses the disadvantage of being different from others. “You were the white field when you handed me a blank sheet of paper and said you’d worked so hard all day and this was the best field you could manage” (Denrow 1-3). Jennifer uses the white field as a metaphor to describe how people were content with being plain or normal.