All of us (even the introverts) are curious about other people. It might not be far off the mark to say we’re intensely curious about other people. While that curiosity is reigned in by some serious socialization, it doesn’t go away. It’s one of those unspoken things we share but don’t talk about.
Poetry can be a wildlife preserve where the elephants in the room run free. “Checking Out” will be in my upcoming book The Anonymity of Waiting, and gives space for the elephant of interpersonal curiosity 😉
Checking Out
We’re brought from all over the world
and find ourselves corralled into
small imitations of our natural habitats.
In the morning, when I open my curtains,
a Japanese man and his taller mate
are strolling through the parking lot.
He’s zebra-striped in a polo shirt and dark pants,
her hair’s in a ponytail
that swishes behind her as they walk.
My gray hair hedgehog-spikes
above my finely brindled coat.
For a moment we look at each other through the glass;
then they move on past another window.
At feeding time,
we all converge on the breakfast area,
and the innkeeper puts out food for us:
sweet rolls, cereal, biscuits and gravy, eggs.
We graze with our eyes and make our selections.
Mid-sip, I look past my coffee cup
at a woman with a bright green crest of hair,
aquiline nose, and a shawl
whose fashion-tatters hang like plumes
over a hot pink tank.
As I lower my cup, a pair of eyes
skitter from my face.
The guy is bald and reptilian with age,
flicking a lip-licking tongue.
The stitching of his indigo shirt
gathers its fabric into little, scaly diamonds.
Children shriek and monkey-chatter
in the halls, through the walls, and around the pool,
where swimmers dolphin through the water
or splash and seal-bark with laughter.
While checking out,
we look at our phones or out the windows,
being careful not to break
our kindergarten teacher’s command against staring.
Instead, we steal glances;
we are exhibits and sightseers
all at once
there being no creature so exotic
as someone else
waiting by the front desk of a motel.
A Wandering Minstrel 