A woman I know
mid-fifties
went protesting
first timer

missing out as
teenager
with strict parents
she wanted
‘self-fulfillment’

Seeing her a few
days later I
asked if she found
what she
had been seeking

“Yes and no”
she smiled
ruefully
“I fell in with a
group
of college kids
who poured milk
on my face”
quickly adding
“for the tear gas”

Her voice trailed.
“It wasn’t
at all
about me”

I nodded.

“Please tell me
that I really didn’t
go there for me”

“I think you did…”
she frowned
“now, here you are.”

We stood there
a summer breeze
kicking up dust

“Maybe you’re right”
she said, smiling

“I’m going to need
some more
goddamned milk.”

– Mark L. Lucker
© 2020
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