Winning a Place In the World

She peeks 
around a corner 
to spit a seed at me  in my dreams  
then turns her head  
pretending not to know 
of it
sometimes she 
is in the body of  
a 10 year old 
mocking me 
or she appears 
suddenly
in a hallway
behind me 
tossing cold
fragments of an orange
that angrily 
land on my head 
I turn and there she is 
stone faced 
arrogant 
I used to work with her 
in an office 
she twenty years younger than I 
we from different 
generations
cultures
family dynamics 
Me.. with my soul
crying 
from the emptiness
of my surroundings
she, dramatically,
making
sure  
every day 
Everyone  
saw her 
see me  
see me 
she screamed
through her hair and clothes
She would act as if at 
a party and laugh loud 
and as she walked 
away 
it landed like 
angry crying 
She liked to play 
with people's  
relationships 
what she could achieve 
for the day 
wasn't complete until 
she severed others
connections 
and make her own stronger 
she brought her games 
out each day 
hoping to win 
a  place  
in the world so every day  
her tricks 
told her story 
that inside she felt 
small and  
powerless 
and spent her days 
in glamorous 
vengeful efforts to  
remedy 
her 
affliction  
I saw her 
and she  
knew 
so she 
worked hard 
to squelch me  
hard 
she saw me  
too
not interested  
in playing 
competing or scheming 
she landed like a hawk 
on my
defenselessness
She was
beautiful 
and smart 
but she stole  
it  
away 
from herself 
because she didn't  
know 


Poetry: Winning A Place In The World
By Susan M. Walker, 2015

Copyright © Susan Walker | Year Posted 2016

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