“No man is an island,”
an illustrious poet said.
But I didn’t believe it so
and counseled solitude instead.
I lived self-exiled, island bound,
and studied life from the shore.
I read of defeats and victories
but wasn’t a part of the war.
Then storms, winds and crashing waves
invaded my isolate isle.
Armed with perceptions of life, I fought
and was beaten by life’s rank and file.
If man’s to be an island, then,
he must make friends with the sea
And open his ports to others,
lift his tariffs on intimacy.
- FRITZ CRYTZER