If at ease with oneself
is the goal, I should be
one of the most comfort
able men in the universe.
If I walk out the door, am
I making my way to the
grocery store or just to
meander the city like a
tourist? I once was quite
social and now I’m a hermit,
had a circle of friends that I
knew I could count on. A
decade goes by. A gentle
man walks into a bar, runs
into an old acquaintance.
It has been ten years.
Always a skeptic, I trust no
one. It would be wrong to
say that I never have, but
it was always my predilec
tion, at least once adult
enough to realize that
no one is completely
transparent. A world
where pragmatism and
idealism and skepticism
and hope are unrealistic
notions that are necessary
to juggle day after day.
Refusing to believe that
progress is an illusion,
the shell-shocked man
continued to move in a
general direction, one
step awkwardly and
nervously and intermit
tently and yet ceaseless
ly in front of the other.
