Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

by Kathleen Rooney

And isn’t this key to the feeling of being alone—the sense that no one is like you? I didn’t used to be this way.

Any day you walk down a street and find nothing new but nothing missing counts as a good day in a city you love. People are forever tearing something down, replacing something irreplaceable.

Do whatever you want. Anyone who tells you you shouldn’t is trying to sell you something.”

I tend to dither, to hold out for perfection—but as any poet can testify, limits encourage both inspiration and decisiveness.

People who command respect are never as widely known as people who command attention. For a time I commanded

Burning a bridge, as any tactician will tell you, sometimes saves more than it costs.

A motto favored by the ancients was solvitur ambulando: It is solved by walking. Sometimes, I might add, by walking out.