Stuart Ackerman Poet Free verse

Somebody That I Used To Know

I saw you when you slipped and tripped and fell
Your face was red, your embarrassment glowed, and you cried,
Not from pain, or hurt, but because you were seen
In a position so far removed from normality in your neat and tidy life.

Your handbag exploded, an overturned rainbow volcano
As lava and purse and all things feminine, skidded
And crash landed in the cracks and landing strip of the pavement
And you, like a hijacked jet, sprawled and bruised and crying.

I could have rushed forward, an ambulance to the rescue of a victim
Of a crime, a circumstance, an international occurrence, a bad dream
But for once, I stayed and watched, with a conscience numb of sympathy
Like a snatch of sadness on the television, abnormality far removed.

But I could not change channels, or volume, or the scene before me
And I could not turn away, and I felt I had no need to
When you looked straight at me, finding me in the crowd
All pretending to be helpless; to save ourselves…

…From being as exposed as you.

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