The Look Back

Look, when I go somewhere new

That’s it

I’m done

I’m not looking back
And everything

Everything

Is a look back

You send out an e-mail going—

‘I’m here!  I made it!  All safe!’

And that’s a look back

You’re creating these

Ties

To this place

Or whatever

That you’ve been

And it’s just not smart

It’s not a smart thing to do

You know people will forget about you

If you let them

They’re not gonna go

Out of their way

To check in on you

Or see how you’re doing

Not after the first two or three e-mails

Go unreturned

They’ve got other shit to do

They’ve got people

Right in front of them

Who need their attention

And you must be fine, right?
Because if you weren’t fine

You would be returning

Their e-mails

This is how the mind works

It’s how all our minds work

So I don’t feel bad about it

I’ve done this—

You know

I’ve done this

A million times

Moved and then just—

Cut everybody loose

It’s, like, the nicest way to do it

And it’s better for you

Like, for your mental health

Honestly

It’s just better

Because why are you moving

If you’re gonna try to keep one foot

In the place you just were?

There’s a natural progression

To these things

There are—

There’s a process that happens

Where eventually erosion kicks in

And you find yourself

With, like, a whole new life

Whether you wanted one or not

And so it makes no sense to fight it

You know?

Just go with it

Just accept that you have, I mean

You are—uh—starting over

It’s refreshing and—

Oh my God, listen to me

Like, rambling

Or whatever

Where are you from?

Cool, that’s cool

Are you here long?

Well…

Well that’s too bad

I really liked talking with you

It was…

You know what?

I’ll just leave you alone

I should head back

I have work in the morning

This, like, two hour conference call

With fucking Shreveport

It’s so stupid

But, um, you know

I would give you my number, but—

Like, why, right?

I mean, why bother

Let’s keep it honest here

You can tell

I’m really into honesty

And being upfront about…

But good luck with everything, you know

Like, wherever you’re going

Good luck, uh

Getting there

And being there

And…and, uh…

It was nice meeting you

You know, I meet a lot of people

But, uh, you know, you’re—

You seem—

Nice

Really nice

You seem like someone

Worth getting

To know