Fellow Travelers

Sometimes, 

while drifting through a day, 

performing old rituals 

within the same routines, 

we become suddenly aware 

of the complexity 

of our own lives 

We step outside ourselves, 

and see the countless relationships we tend, 

the responsibilities we carry, 

and the gravity of the life 

we have built 

Loneliness tightens its grip 

For a moment, 

it can feel as though 

we are drowning 

in the magnitude of it all 

Then, slowly, 

we begin placing things 

back where they belong 

We return burdens 

to their compartments, 

responsibilities 

to their shelves, 

and grant ourselves 

room enough to breathe 

And then it happens 

Like the first light 

over the horizon, 

it dawns on us 

that every person we pass 

is living a life 

as vivid and complex 

as our own 

Each carries routines, 

sorrows, 

ambitions, 

disappointments, 

and private joys 

Each is navigating 

the same overwhelming 

vastness of existence 

They, too, are struggling  

to keep their worlds in order, 

trying to stay afloat 

amid the current 

In that realization, 

something shifts— 

The distance between strangers narrows 

Though we do not share 

the same history, 

the same wounds, 

or the same dreams, 

we occupy this moment 

together 

For a brief instant, 

we are fellow travelers 

beneath the same weight 

of being alive 

And somehow, 

in recognizing the fullness 

of their lives, 

our own loneliness 

becomes a little lighter 

Good morning, 

fellow traveler

©Ron Simpson Jr.

September 23, 2026