camo & Chinese
carving out a little silence
in the grocery store cafe
pretending not to know
all the people I recognize
a grandmotherly type
in a red Cornell sweatshirt
chats with hopeful high school students
for whom the future is limitless
there are equal amounts
of camo & Chinese
the odd pairing of a college town
three hours from nowhere
I spot a former friend’s daughter
she used to sit on my lap and laugh
now she doesn’t recognize me
which is just as well
a little blond girl & her grandma
are talking about someone
with the same first name as me
I keep looking up, involuntarily
(meanwhile the Cornell grandma
and a young woman named Angel
are excitedly talking about
epigenetics and depression)
soon my friend will arrive
we’ll also talk excitedly about something
first I’ll eat this salad so
in a few years I won’t recognize me either
/ / /
Jason Crane
21 January 2018
State College, PA
Comments