a dickens of a time
it’s cold in the shade
but toasty in the sun
though there’s this older
lady who insists on
throwing sideways
glancing shade at me
whenever our paths
intersect or parallel
each other across the
street she always notices
me always gives me that
you don’t belong here
look or maybe it’s more
of a who do you think
you are you woman of a
certain age who looks to
be so ridiculously happy
in her own skin why do you
think you are one of us
she doesn’t get that I am
not trying to be like her or
part of any collective that
is filled with people who feel
superior because they have
been around here longer
than I have nothing to
throw back at her except
appreciation for some
entertainment and the
realization within myself
that this is how negative
nationalism begins to
take root and blossom
into dark cabbage roses
that stink up the air we
all have to breathe together
but anyway there’s my
friend Alice coming
towards me on the
sidewalk so naturally
we begin to chicken walk
towards each other with
wild abandon much like
that dance they do at all
those Italian weddings and
just then Barbara from
the used bookstore sticks
her head out of her truck
and her radiant smiling face
beams on us just like the sun
Cinse Bonino
2024
