Loneliness: a primer for training

There are trainers

who teach being alone

It starts at an early age

with something

as simple as piano lessons

age four comes to mind

which is much too early

Then the house has to be

far enough away from others

few children in the neighborhood

a long walk to school alone

through a forest

filled with dark imaginings

and an older sibling

who races ahead

so as not to be seen

with the intended loner

The parents must be aloof

from each other

only talk of business

no kisses or hugging allowed

of each other or the children

These are must-obey rules

Be sure to find fault

with the child

when it can barely understand

the language of fault

A spanking will set

invisible marks

Instead of laughing off

the childhood foibles

everything must be serious

This also makes the child dependent

when praise is given

usually in excess

Be sure to overfeed

The child will learn

that food is reward

instead of project accomplishment

Eating will occur

in the dark hours

when everyone else is in bed

Eventually all meals

will seem normal

when eaten alone

Be certain the mother

drags the child to her

social events or shopping

so the child just stands around

waiting on the next place

to stand alone

The backseat

is a loner's kingdom

As the child grows

make it do things it doesn't

want to do

and be certain

to deny it all the things

it wants to do

Make excuses

like

“The hands will be hurt”

Shop for and buy

clothes and shoes

almost every day of the year

The child

gets nothing it wants

except for

one day of the year

before school starts

This will establish

the child's unimportance

and the parent's totality

Be sure to establish

a sibling rivalry

so that one child

gets more than the other

The choice of what

does not belong to the child

but to the parent

As the years go by

the child will remain a child

and won't know

how to be tender

how to be loving

all relationships will fail

all friendships will have distance

all beginnings will end

All endings will be painful

since the child has been

trained not to understand

the normal course of relationships

As the child grows older

there will no longer be attempts

to start or rekindle relationships

Deaths will be unimportant

Tears will never flow

The trainer won't be mourned

except in darkness

when the child is alone

always alone

The loner's children

if there are any

will figure out what happened

late in life

as loneliness training

is quite possibly genetic

This is the success

all loneliness trainers

expect to achieve

Barry G. Wick