“In Case”
There was a guy
who used to follow me
around a bit, a few years
ago. He approached me
on the street one time,
then made cameo
appearances at my
school, my bus,
near work, etc.
until I had to finally
call security
as a precaution.
I told them, just
in case something
happens
to me, I want
this on record.
He may have been
a perfectly nice
man. But he
refused to believe
that I was married,
that I was not
interested,
that we could not
be friends.
Maybe I should
have been ruder,
but I was afraid
that if humiliated,
he would kill me.
Five years later,
he appears in my
new neighbourhood,
follows me into a
store, insists he
means no harm.
There is nothing
more ominous than
someone insisting
they mean no harm.
Yes, I am still
married,
yes,
to the same guy,
no, I don’t live
there anymore.
He looks at me
for a long moment,
pronounces I have
changed. It has been
five years and he seems
somehow disappointed
in me.
I think
it’s none of his
damn business
to like or not like
the way I am, the ways
I may have changed,
the life I might have
lived without his
interference, or that
of his extensive
brotherhood
and I’m writing this
down because I want
a record, in case
something
happens.
