we live our whole lives as in a husk

The sadness of our lives.
We will never be good enough to each other,
to our parents and friends.
We go along like old sailing ships,
loaded with food and drink for the long voyage,
self-sufficient, without any outside contact
with the world.
                         The truth faces me
all the time. We are in a world
in which nobody listens to anybody,
in which we do as we please
until we are stopped by others.
We live our whole lives as in a husk,
keeps us separate from any influence.
While those who reflect the influence
of others are either idiots, or people
who never gained consciousness.

[David Ignatow {1914-1997}, 'Brooding' from Figures of the Human]