Elaina, a RISE Supported Housing resident, shares this dynamic and powerful poem, “2025” in which she expresses her feelings of loneliness.
2025
A new year begins.
The ball drops in Time Square.
No shock, I’m alone again.
It doesn’t matter that I’m not there.Being solitary is nothing new.
I recall the places I’ve have been,
And The things I used to do.
Though my zest for life was taken.Sadly, pain changed everything.
Killin the woman I used to be.
No more desire to dance or sing,
Let me lock my door, destroy the key.So long ago, back in my prime,
Life was still worth living.
Then things turned on a dime,
This world can be so unforgiving.A reflection shows line in my face,
Making me want to iron the mirror.
I fall down, showing zero grace,
I guess my vision isn’t getting any clearer.I used to be one gal ass kicking show.
Now, sometimes I even forget to eat.
I can’t remember things I used to know,
It’s getting harder to rise form my seat.When all is said and done,
I will still be on my own.
Because I’ve become the one,
Meant to forever be alone.
Elaina has been writing poetry since she was 14. She took advanced literature classes in high school where she learned how to write poems.
Some of her poems were published in a local paper in Vermont where she grew up. In 2013, some of her poems were published in an anthology called Hear Me, See Me: Incarcerated Women Write.
The love of writing poetry has stayed with Elaina throughout her life and she has used it as a coping skill for many years.