Loneliness and Us

Jorge Milanes

The Spanish poet Salinas once said, “There is nothing more winter-like than loneliness…” Indeed, loneliness is one of the serious problems faced by vast numbers of people in today’s world, though for others it could be advantageous.  The reality is that to live one’s life alone is something sad.

A co-worker at my job related to me the rough times she was going through because her partner had left her.

“We loved each other intensely, among other things we shared,” she told me in conclusion.

Noticing her state of desperation, I invited her to step outside the office and go for a walk through Old Havana.  Finally we decided to sit down on a park bench.

“Can I tell you something regarding what you just related to me?” I asked.

“Of course,” she responded.

“I believe in love in all its dimensions.  It’s not about only appreciating the flesh, there are many other things that love offers, like pleasure and beauty; it’s only that we don’t realize this.”

She listened earnestly while the water from the fountain presented us with a magnificent symphony.  As I looked at her face, tears began to run down her cheeks.

Still, I continued talking to her.

“A couple should have a spirit between them that is constantly renovating, one that’s creative and altruistic.  If not, they run the risk of separating.  On occasions we believe that everything is fine and we forget the other person,” I said.

“But my poetry says everything,” she explained to me frankly.

“I imagine it does,” I replied.  “But not everyone has the capacity to enter into poetic dimensions. It’s necessary to demonstrate that the other person too is important,” I concluded in saying to her, while in the distance a very romantic couple was approaching.

You could see that the young woman was pregnant.  The two stopped just a few yards from us, and he bid her farewell with a kiss to the cheek.  Then, on his knees, he hugged her around the waist and gently, with a kiss, said goodbye to the baby.