The Stranger

Listen, I may have gotten myself into 
another situation. I glance at the speaker
jogging past. Hipster beard, bedhead hair. 
Those thick-rimmed glasses they all wear. 
Dicey doings his business-as-usual. 
Likely a woman on the receiving end 
of that iPhone. Is he angling for absolution, 
money? What has he done – or suffered? 

Beneath his brisk confession, I recognize 
a soul who might total a borrowed car, seduce 
a friend’s spouse, blow the grocery budget 
on wine. Complications, like whack-a-moles, 
arise and arise. My double – but male, young –
struggling to outrun trouble, stay alive.

Jody Winer