Sometimes We Have To Push Each Other Away So We Don’t Drag Each Other Down

I’m sorry I hid from you
amongst a group of black women
while waiting for the bus.
Still terrified you’d see my white hair,
I stooped down and huddled
between them.
One of them patted my head.

A woman on the bus
gives another man a $2.99
Entenmann's pound cake.

He says it is his passion.
They call it his 'baby.'
He even cradles it a bit in his arms.

I am not the man cradling the
$2.99 Entenmann's pound cake.

I am the one who is even too
afraid to lift my arms.