Man Below the Chandelier

He was a young man, standing beneath the ballroom chandelier.
His look mistakenly austere, they thought him queer.
The only lonely soul, he felt, from which everyone stayed clear.
The ballroom was packed, the volume of guests unaccountably sheer.
Everyone dancing, with partners in gear
He took a sip from his glass, tensed up against the veneer.
Wondering to himself if others could see his tears.
The sigh of loneliness being released he solemnly feared.
Strangers walked by yet no advances were made his way, unforgiving eyes continued to peer.
"Has he no one here?" They snickered and sneered.
Then suddenly a mysterious maiden appeared.
Straight to the young man she approached and came near.
Said the lovely maiden, "how do you feel?"
He replied, "my broken feelings I cannot reveal."
"Then please sit with me and let's have a meal"
"I will listen to your tale of woes, for you I am all ears."
"Do not despair, your tears will be my own, your heart I will repair."
Astonished, the blush on his cheeks he could not conceal.
He had never met such an angel in all his years.
"Why are you here, sitting with me for this meal?"
said he, but she frowned - "do you not like me dear?" She jeered.
"Not at all, I am ever grateful to you for I am here without a peer."
"Happy am I to be with you. Who you are I question not, I won't dare."
For hours they talked, stories they shared,
worlds they traveled, their lives they compared;
all the while she was there when no one else cared.
He felt a push and looked over but upon returning his gaze the beautiful maiden had disappeared.
In a flash, the young man had lost his dear.
"Woe is me! Where is my fair maiden? Anxious am I for her to reappear!"
He pondered over the encounter, to his mind was it strange and weird.
Then reality struck him, it was something he feared - his lovely companion was not even real.
She only existed in his mind and no one else did see her.
The dance had ended and the crowd shouted a loud cheer.
The young man choked up inside and fell down in tears
but all in vain, for his thoughts no one could read,
his sighs no one did hear.
It was only his maiden who could heal him and she was no longer there.
His emotions he could not steer, "mere thoughts spiting me" he said, while they continued to rear.
And though she wasn't real she was the other half in his pair,
though only for a brief moment it felt like a sweet eternity shared.
While returning to his former spot, at the barren floor he stared
back below the ballroom chandelier....