I tried to break up the poem in significant places, using line breaks to emphasize important words like "left" and "loss" rather than strictly adhering to conventional sentence breaks at the end of complete thoughts. From Baraka's influence, I was inspired to include a reference to the current political situation in Iraq. I wanted this reference to be realistic -- most of us get our input about politics in snatches, from the television news. I wanted to create a sense of irony too that the soldiers want to communicate and get home, while the man wants...

I tried not to shy away from bringing in very mundane aspects of daily life, like pizza and TV shows, since the smells and sounds of these things are such an integral part of the world that we inhabit. I really wanted the reader to be able to smell as well as see the apartment the individual was located in and to get a sense of how the man's life was unraveling in the details, like his choice of meal and television shows, even though he was trying to enjoy his new solitude.