My Friends Don'T Play Outside Poem by R.Benjamin Abate

I was talking to
An old neighbor
At the supermarket-

What was small talk
Turned into a more
Serious chat-

'The children in
Our neighborhood
Don't play outside
Anymore, ' the elderly woman cried-

'I know, it's sad, ' I replied-

'In my day,
We would be
Outside with the
Water hose-
Spraying each other-
The boys would play
Stick ball in the street
& Everyone was smiling, ' she said-

'Everyone was Happy..' She added-

'You're right, people don't
Seem as happy
These days, ' I said-

Then she said,
'There's too much
Fear, you know-
The Little fish in
The sea have
To eat too-
They can't just
Hide away
Because they're
Afraid of the sharks.'

I nodded in approval-

She smiled with
Her Beautiful-
Dusty grey eyes-

Finally, she said,
'Well- I'll leave you to it..'

& She went her own way
& We both forgot where
We were for a moment-
We forgot about our age
Difference-

While strange-lonely
Faces passed on by-
Staring at the ground-
Too Afraid to make
Eye contact with
Another lost Soul-