Watch It

A whole day without speaking,

not digging my hands in the soil

and sculpting, just watching, too-long

hair pulled back off my neck, and I think

I’m good at this, this being alone

in the world, this being older, being

patient. Waiting my turn. I didn’t

mind this morning when the girl

in the shop, couldn’t have been more

than fourteen, really, pressed herself

between me and the counter.

I didn’t listen, either, when she turned

to face me with her animal

eyes and a look that told me

I better mind my tongue, or else.

I had something to do, and I did it.