Does it come from a help line or android phone app,
Or perhaps from a bottle, a joint, or a pill?
Where support is most needed is known to the soul.
Nothing outside the body can render it whole.
Expression of emotion is by one’s free will
In the hope that compassion will fill in the gap.

Measures out of the ordinary one must take
To ensure that connections with others are such
That support is forthcoming and always at hand
At the moment most needed. Yet, one can’t demand
What is not being offered but wanted so much,
For the consequence will put the friendship at stake.

My thinking is progressive. If I feel a pain
That I can’t fully process, I must go within
Rather than cast myself as a creature of need
Otherwise friendship with me most people would heed.
I’d prefer not to be caught committing that sin.
People have their own issues. Why drive them insane?

Sociable and gregarious… I’ll play that role
As long as there’s a measure of truth in my act.
I can learn to perform well to honor the peace
Of the human collective. I may find release
Of my social misgivings. Then I may attract
What is offered in kindness to my aching soul.