I am a species of one:

I live:

By myself,

With myself,

Unto myself,

For myself.

My inner life is paramount:

Thoughts and feelings,

Mental conflicts,

Turbulent emotions.

I also lead

My own private life:

My own personal rituals,

Going to the places that I love

All by my lonesome.

Consuming consumer culture:

Reading,

Devoting myself

To the pursuit of knowledge

And perchance wisdom

Or learning about life

Through Story;

Listening to music,

Pandering to my delicate sensitivity

Or as catharsis to my oft turbulent emotions;

Watching multimedia,

Living vicariously

Lives pared down to their essentials

And distilled to Story;

Even interactive multimedia,

Where I become other beings

And experience outlandish adventures.

And

Enjoying

Being:

Being where I am,

Doing what I am doing,

Savoring life’s

Simple private pleasures,

Or just plain Being.

I lead

A very limited social life,

Very limited indeed;

I have never managed to build

A social persona,

And never developed the perception

Of how the Other perceives me;

Most of all,

I have never been able to make allowances

For how the other perceives me to change me;

To influence how I act,

To influence who I am;

I can’t help

Being who I am

And act accordingly.

My constructed reality,

The way that I perceive the world,

Is very bleak indeed:

With very few remarkable exceptions,

The world is peopled by monsters,

For a Monster is how I perceive the Other;

(And the exceptions

Are angels or

Outright incarnate gods and / or goddesses)

In such a black and white world

Either you are

With me

Or

Against me,

You are either

Part of the solution

Or

Part of the problem,

Part of the cure

Or

Part of the disease.

Either

An ally:

A haven,

Providing

Comfort and solace,

Encouragement and support,

Affection and tenderness,

Friendship and / or love;

Or

An enemy:

A monster,

Providing

Molesting bullying,

Mocking discrimination,

Tyrannical oppression,

Loathing and / or hate.

Because

I have often been persecuted,

Because I am different,

Because I am alone.

But, seldom,

I have found refuge,

And I was accepted,

And I was accompanied.

So

Knowing all this about me

Which one are you?

An ally?

Or

An enemy?

Now it is up to you,

Now the ball is on your court.