on falling in love with strangers

There
under the bridge
the three of you
uncover some
fossil

something preserved
in order
for you to blow breathe
back into it

you grabbed his similarly weathered
hands and made
a ring around the rosie
around the young boy
but none of you fall
you hold each other
as if you are the only people alive

your breaks don't work?
Now settle down

there is honey
and rosemary
and thyme
and years
in this

the boys tears
burn a hole in the ground
but you and the man
expand to fill the space

C'mon sweetheart
let's figure this out


and the mother walks slowly back
but by then he has done circles
around us
holding us
as if we are the most important people alive

he gives you his tears
as a gift
as if it was christmas
as if this was what you had always wanted
as if you were trading
baseball cards
and you got lucky
and he had passed on a gem

and he pushed away
looking only forward
and the man looked at you
with pride
there was no space between
nothing to fill
anymore

you wanted to high five him
but your hands felt heavy
so he pulled you into a hug
and then you pedaled away
and you were the most important person alive