Alone ~ A Poem by Maya Angelou

We Can’t Make It Alone: Maya Angelou’s Call to Connection

Maya Angelou’s timeless poem Alone reminds us that wealth, success, or status cannot shield us from loneliness. Only connection sustains us.

Alone

Maya Angelou

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don’t believe I’m wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can’t use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They’ve got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I’ll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
‘Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Source

✨ Reflection

Maya Angelou’s Alone pierces through the illusion that independence and material success are enough. Her words reveal a deeper truth: human beings are wired for connection. Money, power, or comfort cannot replace the nourishment of genuine relationships. The “millionaires with money they can’t use” are no less vulnerable to loneliness than anyone else. Angelou’s voice rises like a warning bell: storms of suffering and division gather when we forget our shared need for one another. Her wisdom challenges us to rethink success—not as personal achievement, but as belonging, compassion, and community. In a culture that prizes self-sufficiency, her reminder is both urgent and healing.

How has connection—with a friend, family member, or even a stranger—carried you through times when you felt alone?