A Whole Lot of Nothing

A friend told me that
"all you have in this world
is what other people think of you."
Well, I thought, then I guess I don't
have anything.

On second thought,
I guess I do have some things.
I have:
One bed I sleep alone in,
One phone I never answer,
and a computer where I write
bad poetry that no one will ever
read.

That is enough for me.

I don't lie to myself and imagine
people lined around the block
waiting in line to get a good last
look at my carcass.
If some show up it will probably just be
to make sure
I'm dead.

Even if there are no tears
at the end of my life,
At least I can say
that I stood up to people
when they put me down,
followed my path even when I got thrown off,
and acted when others just
died.

If all a man has is what other people think of him,
then I am ok with having nothing at all.