You told yourself you could do this without them
If you had their help it would undo the purpose
Recused yourself from the argument at hand
And folded into quietness there
You proceeded to suffer for a time
At your hunger and your loneliness
At the nothing there that swallowed you like a bug
And weeping nights from leaving them behind
You shut up like a foreclosed house
So never told a lie to those you loved
And never craved attention like a clown
So never disappointed or betrayed
So performed worthy work and set it
As an offering on the shelf of the world
So it was what it wanted to be
Clean and honest as a plank
Now when you think of them
It is no longer as temptation
Or the music of their laughter
Or the grasp of their embrace
But of the goodwill they bore you
Like a promise you would never meet again
Yet carry one another by the heart
Like a lantern that never goes out
Mike Finley
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/living-without-friends/
