Hollow

He carried his grief like a pallbearer

up high on his shoulders

chin forward

determined

slightly hunched

almost as if as long as he didn’t straighten all the way out

his heart wouldn’t drop out of his chest

I don’t know what it cost him to keep it all inside like that

but then I was a not much more than a stranger passing by

how was I to know if at night he let it all unravel

only to come to morning

have to tuck it back inside

like wool

like stuffing

like the tight smile he was using as buffering

against the dozen a minute questions

asking if he was alright

10 thoughts on “Hollow

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