things i've been considering (12/21/24)

i hope that you see me

crossing the tracks

in the rain / umbrella-less

in the snow / hat-less

in the sun / shade-less

i hope that you think

that you know

what is in my grocery bag / milk forgotten

where i have come from / a cave

where i am going / the trees

i hope that you see

the way i

trip over the curb

as if i do it just to catch myself

on the other side / have something to prove

the way i

squint away from the sun

as if i am listening

to train-car gossip / have something to know

the way i

reshoulder my reusable shopping bag

as if i have the unspeakable weight of the world

nestled between the eggs and the sun-dried tomatoes / have something to hold on to

= = =

i hope that you see me

and i hope that you think for a moment that i’m someone dear to you /

someone lost to you /

someone you hoped never to see again ≠

and i hope that you look closer through the glare of the downpour /

blizzard /

late afternoon haze ≠

and you see

that i am no one no one at all

= = =

just light off train tracks