Neighborhood 2

First date #10.

I matched three Brians on Bumble in one day,

but this was the only one

with discussion past ‘hey’.

Up late last night texting

the worst things we’ve ever done.

It was no contest.

He easily won.

(Nothing that bad, really.)

Got me to thinking about how strangers

can connect

through secret dangers

before meeting face to face.

I wonder if we broke the rules.

Damn adults

acting like fools

and meeting in a park

for meaningful conversation

about our pasts, our present,

the state of our nation

and how we don’t see everything the same.

But we both want to meet again

Thursday for a walk

followed by a

two-hour talk

with someone who challenges everything we thought we knew

and where we go now

the when, where, and

how

though no one has answers or

easy ways out.

Isn’t it funny

how you can connect through the heart

while still sitting on a park bench

six feet apart?