ABSTRACT

In this piece, Cináed, a 40-something gay man, single and alone, writes about his lifelong sense of isolation. Using self-dialogue, Cináed tells of the excruciating desolation he often goes through on Sundays, when families and friends are involved in their own domestic lives. Reflecting on recent family deaths, Cináed then ponders on his usefulness to others and himself if, as others have commented to him, ‘he doesn’t have a family’. In often painful and self-disclosing writing, Cináed reflects on what relatives have said to him at the time these relatives died and delves into his wish not to receive treatment should he develop a life-threatening illness.