Minister of Loneliness
by Atreyee Gupta
In the committee’s recent report—
“An Analytical Perspective on Social Isolation as a Risk Factor for Healthy Financial ROI”— eighty-seven percent of employees ranked their jobs high on the misery index.
I’ve been hired as the Minister of Loneliness to combat this statistic.
In my glass crate on the hundred-and-thirtieth floor
I tabulate the results of our polls for the computer to digest.
The surveys went out to the masses—I watch them down there,
scurrying to compile their worlds into order
from miniature boxes,
faces glowing like nightmares.
The questionnaire repeats over and over on the screen:
“Have you recently been lonely?”
My body presses too much against this silence.
Sometimes, for change of scenery,
I stroll to the break room
where Surabaya, the temp secretary, stares into their mug
stirring stirring stirrin
their black coffee
as if comfort will rise from its swirling pool.
I nod, embarrassed, code for, “How’s it going?”
interpret as: don’t share your sadness with me.
They return the gesture, but I can’t decipher the message
so I walk away.
My tasks are clearly delineated by weekly memos:
“You must log all billable projects. Please understand we cannot
compensate any after-hours work.”
“Also remember to take screen breaks. Our insurance does not
cover eyesight checkups.”
“Be sure to scrutinize initiatives as to whether they meet
budgetary requirements. Our bottom line is restricting expenditure.”
In early morning hours the loneliness
falls like snow, blanketing me in its embrace. I switch off machines,
lights, ventilation
asking the humming machines, “are you searching, like me, for an answer?”
Their voices, not speaking, are the clearest noises
I hear.
Atreyee Gupta’s fiction and poetry has appeared in numerous venues including Apparition Lit, Arc Poetry, Bacopa, Mukoli, and Tahoma Literary Review. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Atreyee has also been published in several anthologies from Finishing Line Press, Owl Canyon Press, and Rusty Wheels Media. Atreyee is the creator of Bespoke Traveler, a digital alcove for curious explorers.