one man so incandescent with rage

he abandoned his car in the middle of Main

so he could scream and gesture rudely

at the woman behind who offended somehow

she returned his shouts with harsh words of her own

more prudently through an open car window

back and forth the insults ever louder, the voices more furious

until a town employee intervened to enable traffic’s flow

and perhaps prevent them coming to blows

there, surrounded by ornamented greenery and glittering bells

celebrating peace and goodwill towards all

a snarling beast come to claw

each unwise movement or unwary breath

rakes me with ferocious speed

stops me and makes me blind

for a moment not existent at all

I had forgotten this lesson

offered by overwhelming pain

the shattering of self again and again

the unexpected intensity a kindness granted

this a valued reminder

and the people that walk beside the tracks

in the colder hours of these cold days

shoulders bent against the harsh wind

hands tucked into pockets

coats thin against the bitter chill

these the often unseen

the rest of us do not take notice

ordinary lives rest on the lives of others

not lightly but with crushing weight

do we be less heavy a burden

do we even begin to see them

do we recognize we are them

what happens when someone shrugs

and we all come crashing down