When I ride the bus

or I am out walking my dog

when I’m on the train

and going no where

in particular at all

I like to watch people

I like to take their faces into my head

inch by inch

in small

and delicate

bites.

 

I can take my time

because they are on their phones

trapped in a screen

unable to look up and away

I can steal their expressions, collect their hands, shoulders, their eyes

put them in my memory to be devoured

at a later time

in

a story or a poem .

When I am out

loose and invisible in a sleeping world

I feel like a gargoyle

on a wall.

 

Look.

Up.

Here I am.

Hello.

Shall we begin….

with

Once upon a time.