6201. WHEN I WAS THE HUNTED

WHEN I WAS THE HUNTED

When I was the hunted one I learned pretty

well  -  where the fallow spots for hiding

where the best, how to make silence a thing

never heard. I even knew about cancelling my

reflections on the water. I was sharp and slick.

-

Then I started going places where I shouldn't

have  -  not for show, mostly just for utility,

and the game of it all anyway. Showing my

face at coffee counters and bars, buying an

old sweater at a thrift shop for the poor. 

Nosing around in library shelves. yes,

someone must have caught a

glimpse of me.

-

It started pretty innocently  -  they sent over

someone's mother to begin talking to me. I

feigned an interest and kept it up. Small talk,

then a little more conversation  -  one time,

then again, and then again. Until they were

able to calculate my routine, I guess.

-

Then, one day, they got me.

Just swooped in, and in the

middle of a very gentle

sentence, I was had.

Taken.

Gone.