Kiyoo

i see him watering those flowers
attempt at a new hobby
i butcher his name everyday at the same time
he says
"just call me 'honey'"
and even though he's sweet
i don't because that's his wife's name for him
and he always makes the joke
"i'm just out here to get away from the wife!"
but he loves that woman to pieces
you can see it in every wrinkle
on his war torn face
and even at eighty-seven
he is still just the soldier
coming back from korea
for her.

-(she reminds him to water the flowers)-

you need to look up seattle.
when you walk past me, you need to look up.
stop staring at the cracks in the pavement thinking that missing them will give you back some semblance of caring for your mother.
Chances are you lost your closeness with her when you stopped making eye contact.

so you need to look at me when we walk past each other.
lock eyes with me and fake a smile if you must.
I don't need your "hello's" or a weather report
because its either raining or its about to
but I do need that mutual recognition of our human
I just want to see that you have nostrils!

you need to look up seattle.
you need to look up seattle.