I did it again Doorway Me coming in Her going out I step left She steps left I step right She steps right That little dance Two strangers do We laugh "Sorry" I say it first She says, "You're fine" We pass I keep walking But something Follows me Not her The sorry Because What exactly Was I sorry for? We both had somewhere We were going Neither of us Did anything wrong We just arrived At the same three feet At the same time Still Sorry Later I'm pushing my cart Someone comes around The corner I move immediately "Sorry" Why? Woman reaches Past me for something "Sorry" For having shoulders? I stop to check My phone Someone walks behind me "Sorry" Okay Now I'm noticing it Apparently I've been apologizing For having coordinates That's ridiculous I move my cart Not because I shouldn't be there Because she needs through There's a difference Courtesy says, "I can make room" Something older says, "I shouldn't take any" Oh There you are I know that voice I've met you In other clothes Earn the chair Carry the bridge Fix the room Make yourself useful Now apparently Don't obstruct traffic Very versatile I keep shopping Thinking about roads How I've always pictured Where I'm going Like a line Me here Life over there And everybody between us Either helping Or slowing me down But that can't be The whole thing Can it? Because some people I would've called delays Changed what I wanted Some wrong turns Introduced me To whole neighborhoods Somebody I stopped for Made me stop rushing Somebody I waited on Waited on me later Not destiny Easy I'm not saying Every asshole with a cart Was sent by the universe Actually Someone has put Three pieces of trash In mine Seriously? I pick up a wrapper Look around Apparently I'm the janitor now Okay Philosophy survives Barely I throw it away Keep moving Because people can be Inconsiderate People can block doors People can absolutely Leave their cart In the worst possible place I'm looking at you, aisle seven But maybe that's different Maybe someone's behavior Can obstruct me Without their existence Being an obstruction Oh That's cleaner I like that At checkout There's an older woman In front of me Taking her time Card won't read Tries again Line grows I feel that little Internal lean Come on Then something's different A while ago I'd have called this An inconvenience Now I'm curious What am I assuming? Where is she going? Why does my hurry Get to make her The problem? Funny Same forty seconds Different lens I used to find Annoyance here Now there's usually Something to notice Something to understand Sometimes Something to learn Not every inconvenience Needs a philosophy But apparently I've become the woman Who keeps finding one She tries again Still nothing Cashier helps That's it She turns around "Sorry" There it is Coming back at me I almost say, "It's okay" Instead "You're not in my way" She smiles And that's enough Maybe she forgets it Before she reaches the door That's fine I might too Outside People crossing Every direction Cars waiting Carts rolling Someone holding The door Someone missing it Somebody stops In the middle For absolutely no reason Human traffic Messy as hell And I wonder What if I've got The picture backward? What if there isn't A perfect road And then People get on it? What if the crossings The waiting The moving over The getting annoyed The helping The doubling back The people who stay The people who don't What if all of that Isn't happening On the road? Maybe We are the road Not fate Not some promise That every collision Was meant to happen Just Maybe a life Isn't the empty space Between destinations Maybe it's also Who was there Who needed room Who made some Who walked beside you For twenty feet Who changed direction Who didn't Who made you wait Who you waited for I reach another doorway Guy coming toward me We both step left Of course Then right There it is again We laugh He says, "Sorry" I almost answer With one of my own Instead I smile "You first" He passes I pass Nobody disappeared Nobody became The obstacle Two people Going somewhere Sharing three feet Of the way For a second Then continuing And I think Maybe making room For somebody else Never required Erasing myself From the road.
