Me Just Me

We just know each other as “sis”

First meeting with saying on Diet Coke can

Saw her tonight

Gave me a hug

Very social

Going to bar by herself

Different

But, I was there too

By myself

I never realized that I didn’t have a dad until everyone asked what he did for a living

Yet I did

My mom!

- number 1 was from birth until I was saved from drowning at age 3.

I never learned to swim

- number two was then until I was hit by a truck, receiving a traumatic brain injury

- number three was until yesterday when I received 3 heart stents. My heart was 90% blocked

- number four began yesterday

I’ve never said hi, but I want to say bye

Does it really matter?

Today, yes

Tomorrow, I don’t know

And it is tomorrow

And I’m still here

Tired, but, her

Funny, saw her today

Never a mention of a man or fiancé

But she is engaged

Weird

What do you do?

Thinking about getting older

Heart surgery

Dying

Asking someone you like for more

Seeing her engagement ring

Which she hides

Probably her fiancé

Thinking about going places

Just not caring

Too many free lunches

For her

Oh well for tonight

Getting older

Almost ready to go home

It matters, but it doesn’t

I don’t know

I’m not sure

But , I think 🤔 I am

Another, probably over before it ever was

It too me too long to put it together

After so many years, I thought I’d be better at this

Science, easy for me

But, life, people, the hardest science

Seems unreal,

And yet it makes sense

The science

The emotion

Took me awhile to cry

And it will last even longer

I just asked a friend when was the time you cried the most

She had no comment

For me, figuring out people

Almost

Deep

Have you ever been in love?

Did they love you back?

Are you happy?

Evening at the local grocery store

Getting out of my car

A flurry of people here

A flurry of people there

One catches my eye

Running around cars

Then looking in the garbage

He’s joined by his friend

Another African American teenager

He shouts

“ What are you looking at nigg - -?”

My reply

“You behave “

My thoughts?

I’m looking at someone on a path to nowhere,

Nowhere going fast

With their end not too far away

Death, drugs, jail, take your pick

They probably already have

Their ignorance is there bliss

First impression

Last impression?

It doesn’t matter

An excellent story

I don’t know

Billions of connections

Billions of reactions

Reacting

All specific to you

All specific to me

My first one:

Everything before three I don’t remember.

My first memory.

looking up into the water, into the light of the sun

a little cloudy, hazy

I was drowning

HERE

My second life

Everything from

PhD, chemical engineering, papers, patents

life

until June of 2013

hit by a truck in the crosswalk in Ann Arbor

My third life

2013 and going