How would you get along with your sibling(s), parent(s), or any other person you’ve known for a long time — if you only

met them for the first time today?(Thanks for the prompt suggestion, LisaListed!)

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I meet men daily,

Men from my past, men in the present,

Men and women,

Who claim they’re me,

And it worries me,

Because I’m asked, nay begged, to be kind

To all their me.

How am I to tell them,

That then there’ll be no room for the me of now.

I’d rather show them the door, gently,

Unless they can make it worth my while,

To humor their ‘lie’.

(I tell you all this honestly).

~Linus Fernandes

PS: Thanks to Tom Balistreri for inspiring this post.