The loneliness was like sea glass.

NEWYORKER: Starlight

The loneliness was very much like sea glass, if sea glass could be a state of mind.

NEWYORKER: Starlight

Her very presence seemed to irk married women of her age, not because they saw her as a threat but, rather, because her widowhood and loneliness reminded them that they could end up like her.

NEWYORKER: Luda and Milena

"I've experienced times so difficult and felt boredom and loneliness to such a degree that it seemed to be a physical thing inside so thick it felt like it was choking me, trying to squeeze the sanity from my mind, the spirit from my soul, and the life from my body, " one New York inmate, William Blake, wrote in an essay posted by SolitaryWatch.com.

CNN: No kid should be in solitary confinement