I heard him say I look mired
in my grief, I’m just tired.
It’s exhausting telling people
the line ends with me.
Then he said he admired
my lifestyle, and aspires
to have the same freedoms now
that he did at fifteen.
I want to speak up and tell him,
through curse words and yelling,
that I’m just trying to survive
the life that God gave me.
Instead, I bite my tongue
and I smile, there’s
no need to act like a child,
when this man is just
another stranger
shopping for groceries.

Nick Gaffney