Hello, Please Don't Bother

We don't at all mind the presence of
others. On the contrary, we quite enjoy
in fact, chance encounters of the
neighbourly kind, wax loquacious as
the social situation demands, laugh and
share opinions, news and anecdotes and
the result feels inclusive and warm.

But we are who we are. Not quite
reclusive, but careful of our privacy.
Our home briefly of welcome to
others, but brief is the operative
quality here, though not entirely
without moments of greeting and grace.

Solitude suits us well. We do, indeed,
cling greedily to one another's presence.
We have our always-expanding library
of books; resources to inform, entertain
and enrich our lives. Conversation
between us and memories, along with
our mutually active commune with nature
fills in any gaps, thank you very much.

Ringing doorbells set our little dogs'
nerves on edge, and disturbs the peace
of our home. But you are welcome to
explain and we to agree or not, as the
instance and the inclination takes us.

Our telephone is an instrument of
business. Calls go out, rarely come in.
Those that do, aside from the much-loathed
telemarketers and polling enquiries are
reserved for friends and loved ones.
Even there, the instances are necessarily
few, for so are friends, that exceedingly
rare commodity. And loved ones quite
simply extremely involved, elsewhere.