STAIRCASE INTO A WELL

The loneliness that wells up in me
is like walking down a staircase into a well.
The further that I get in, the less I can see out.
The walls and mugginess of the well draw in close,
and I know that if I try to cry out that my voice won't carry far enough to get out,
and that there would be noone outside the well to hear me even if it did.
I look back, and see only darkness from the way I came.
Resigned, I continue trudging with eyes downcast, forlorn.