Ashamed

You raised your arms for an embrace,
And I, I'm ashamed to say,
Took a step back.

The mix of
Marijuana, body odor, nicotine, and smoke
surrounding your body
was more than I could handle.

So I turned away
Pretending not to see
the briefest flash of pain
in your otherwise lifeless eyes.

Five feet away
the mother tiger pounced.
Reprimanding me; scolding me
for being disrespectful.
Asking me what I had to say for myself.

But she always told me to say nothing
if what I had to say wasn't nice.
So I remained silent, took my arm back
and resumed walking.

And from a distance, I watched.

No one else seemed to have a problem
with stepping into your arms.
No one else seemed to care that you wore
the same clothes you had on last weekend.
No one else seemed to notice
how pale and thin and wasted you looked.

But I, I'm ashamed to say,
Noticed and cared.

Copyright 2009 S. Sieglaff

A/N: This was written months ago. I've just now decided to put it up. I don't know yet if it's finished, but for now, at least, it's done.