Old Man Mike
Lauren Shelley
My neighbor is an old man
who lives alone
with white wine and Winstons.
He lacks for social graces
his grubby apartment, his stained shirts,
and his frequent incoherence
from liquor on his brain.
He told me he was married
But that story was a lie designed
to make himself seem more normal
and less alone.
O
Last week, he tried to give me
a soggy half sandwich
covered in tomatoes.
I smiled and said, “No, thank you,”
but his slumped shoulders told me
I had hurt his feelings.
When I feel lonely because
everyone I know is half a couple,
I think of my parents
and my brother
and my friends from
work, school, church, gym
and the contacts in my phone—
Then I look next door and realize
how very far I am from alone.
[16]