Just a Smile

He could have kept walking
they all could
keep right on walking

and usually
they do

to give a stranger
the attention
of an instagram like
is really not so
21st century

But not him
maybe because he
didn’t know
about instagram

He knew about
growing up in Hawaiʻi
before it was a state

Still
he contained
all the kindness
to make up for
the billions of strangers

gradually growing grooves
in their foreheads and necks and cheeks
from years of frowning
at their phones
in acceptable
boredom

But not him
He smiled
and
I smiled

And Hawaiʻi
and Indiana
were no longer
just states
on a map

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