Howard Firkin
A self-help guide for the gregarious and socially adept
You can be lonely. Even you. Someone
like you. You may have thought you had to be
a poet, artist, thinker… but you don’t.
The stupid and the popular, the least
profound can all aspire to loneliness:
this poem shows you how. I don’t say it
is easy—not for all. I don’t say you
won’t still have moments when find you’ve touched
another’s soul. We all have days like that.
But lonely’s still a realistic goal.
Step One. Remove yourself and shut your eyes
and think of how you failed and why. Now breathe…
and think of who you’re hurting with your life.
Now, think of no way out. And that’s Step Two.
like you. You may have thought you had to be
a poet, artist, thinker… but you don’t.
The stupid and the popular, the least
profound can all aspire to loneliness:
this poem shows you how. I don’t say it
is easy—not for all. I don’t say you
won’t still have moments when find you’ve touched
another’s soul. We all have days like that.
But lonely’s still a realistic goal.
Step One. Remove yourself and shut your eyes
and think of how you failed and why. Now breathe…
and think of who you’re hurting with your life.
Now, think of no way out. And that’s Step Two.