I Almost Missed The Boat. Poem by Victor Matthews

All I wanted,
was to be alone.

Alone with my books,
alone with my thoughts,
alone with my music,
alone with my writing.

I realize,
or I am beginning to realize,
that being alone, is no way
to live a life.

Being alone is enjoyable,
at least to me,
for a certain period of time.

After that period of time,
being alone, just becomes,
well, plain old lonely.

I'm not saying I like people,
or that I like the society I live in.
Because, I assure you, I don't.

But there is a point when
you need to get out, and interact.
Say 'hello, ' and meet some new people.
Look for the good qualities in people,
not immediately notice the bad ones.

It's difficult for me to do these things,
but challenges are part of life.
And I'm not ready to miss out on life.
From now on, I intend to live life.
And I intend to live it well.

And to think, I almost missed the boat,
with all my loneliness.