Hey bud
I wanna tell you something
Hey, don’t walk away
I’ve got something to say
So what if we’re not
from the same neighborhood
I see you every day
when I stop at this 7-11
And I wonder if you’ve
noticed me, driving through
in my Nissan P/U
Yes, I keep my rims so shiny
you can see yourself
as I drive by, that’s because
I want you to notice
I ain’t no Weber
I know what it’s like here
I stop, look around
People always in their own business
Standing at the bus stop
Leaning against the store
or inside playing the games
I buy my breakfast burrito
and O.J.
I see you and I walk
to my wheels and speed away
through the intersection
But today I had to stop
before I go into my work life
I had to stop because I wonder
What the hell are you thinking
when you see me stopping
I had to stop because I wonder
what the hell is your life
like tangent to mine
I’m just bugged
going to work
not talking to anybody
except cents to the clerk
It’s like I’m driving thru water
so slow I can’t hear
nobody saying anything
I can’t take it anymore
Punch me or something
Make me feel I belong
In my world In your world
In our busy too busy world
Why are we so wrapped up
in our own lives
Why are we here
Just to pass each other
Every day make us feel
We’re in a social ball
Orbiting a vacuum
that doesn’t care if I die
or you
Oh sure, people will go
to our funeral
Especially if I pull out a gun
and shoot your indifferent ass
Some guy with neat hair
on the news
will comment
we existed
for 2 minutes
lesson
to us
all
Hey, don’t walk away
I don’t have a gun
I just watch too much TV
How about you
You got a wife and a kid
and a job and
time to yourself
in this world
Do you worry sometimes
why are we here
if we just end up
replicating
until the great forces
eliminate
all signs
that we are here
Someday the sign
will read
we were here
But they’ll be
nobody to read it
So, what do we do
now, we’re standing
here in front of
a 7-11 with cars
in the street and work
to do…are we really
keeping the world
running… ever
heard of
J. Alfred Prufrock

REPLY: What are you,
a poet or something?