I see you on the street and say hello; not sure of your name, but you look familiar.
Now I wonder along, pondering the act: saying “hello, how are you, I’m fine” to someone who’s damn near a stranger.
You don’t know my life, I’m not really fine, but why should that bother you?
Inside I may be dying, but unless I’m openly crying, there’s no way you’d ever see through.
Now, I don’t hold this against you, for I do the same.
I merely wonder at the emptiness of this casual game.
We all play along, though not sure of the rules;
You just say “how are you?” and I’ll play it cool.
So I’ll keep on walking, wondering why I said “hi,”
And I’ll think about strangers I see passing by.
I’ve just read a whole bunch of these poems and this is the only one I liked in its entirety.
Touching poem Niki. Materialism isn’t it. You do what ‘‘everybody’’ else does. It’s what we’ve come to…