if you begin to dislike people <br />finding stains and dirt and freckles on the face of another <br />if you do not like to listen to what they want to say <br />if you find a list of mistakes and you say they ought not to be forgiven <br />if you like to be with yourself as though the world is one indifferent shape <br />if you begin to hate and keep things to yourself like you are an alien <br /> <br />then, you are not ready yet for solitude <br />you still suffer, you have embraced the loneliness <br />you are still a shadow hiding in darkness <br /> <br />in the alienation of the self <br />you have inflicted the cruelty upon humanity even if you are not there yet<br /><br />RIC S. BASTASA<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/are-you-ready-for-solitude/
