"Hellos"

There’s something to be said for quiet greetings,
the slight nod of a chin
or prayerful murmurs of acknowledgement
eyebrows sprouting upward as if surprised that

I see you.
You see me.
Yes.
I am also here on this planet
in this space
in this moment
lungs inflating with the same air
heart plodding onward
through yet another Monday filled with
  all-lane traffic
  too much cologne
  that relative on Facebook who just won’t shut up
  a copier out of paper
  ennui
  far-right conspiracy theories
  a cold making the rounds
  the silhouette of breakfast staining the crotch
  slow wi-fi
  that news story about the guy who did that thing
  sexual frustration
  (or is that a hickey on your neck?)
  dirty laundry
  coffee-and-toothpaste breath
  panic-inducing news alerts
  actual dirty laundry
  mumbled profanities
  (how did cat hair get inside my sock?)
  the prison-industrial complex
  celebrity gossip
  voice-sniffer algorithms
  and all other anxieties of late-stage capitalism.

Do you hear that?
The quick flutter of eyelashes as we awkwardly pass?
It’s the sigh of strangers
slipping silently into awareness,
unsure how to react on the surface,
yet comforted that no matter what happens
at least there’s somebody else here.

At least we’re not alone.

PoetryAndrew JohnsonApril 2, 2018NaPoWriMo, poetry, poem, hellosComment