Hey.
The word that you hear most often.
Just a friendly greeting.
Everyone says it.
That one kid that lives across the hall from you.
The girl from your group project last semester.
As easily as it flows from their mouths
it flows from mine.
Without feeling, thought or trouble.
But then their comes you.
And at the the site
My mouth goes dry
And a word that once was so simple to say
Becomes unable to pass from my lips
As it seems as my mouth suddenly fills with concrete
my tongue is weighed down
heat flares to my cheeks
and my stomach erupts like the 4th of July
My world is jolted from its axis
For I come off balance
Like having vertigo
and walking in a straight line
Thoughts swirling about in my brain
bringing the feelings back from the depths
with that lovely sting of regret
But I keep my head up
Though my ankles wobble
I keep walking
As I pass with a smile
I hear the word, "hey"
But it's no longer simple
No, it's no longer a greeting
It's something much more than that
It's a feeling.
