Oh, it’s that part
of the day…
I have to stop
pretending that
I’m a writer
(or at least a good enough
one)
and leave the house
and go to work
I make myself get away
from the keyboard
and get my backpack and
put my shoes on and
that’s all I need
I get out
and walk around the building and
see him
by the alley benches
I can smell him
too
He’s soiled his pants
again
It happens at least once
a week
and eventually his wife
comes out
and handles things somehow
But I know
it’s not easy. I see it
It was easy some six or seven
years ago before
he had the
accident
I don’t even know how to put
it in medical terms. All I know
is that the
guy had some brain infection
that ate away at
his sanity
and it happened slowly
and painfully
And it continues to
happen
and the wife is regarded as
this hero, this saint, the
martyr of the neighborhood
for not leaving his side
even though she’s only in her
early thirties
He makes eye
contact with me as I pass
him and
starts nodding
and a slim string of saliva
dangles like a jellyfish
tentacle
as it hangs from his chin
I nod at him
and acknowledge that
he’s had better days on this
Earth
and I’m sure he’s thinking
precisely the same about me
Then I look up at
the gods
and wonder that they’re thinking
of our future
because I honestly do not know
Many thanks to Gobblers by Masticadores for featuring my poem, "he’s thinking precisely the same about me"!
Check it out HERE!

Thank you!
