i move through people

all day.

bending without thinking.

adjusting

to whoever is in front of me.

sometimes it’s easy.

slipping through conversations

like air through leaves.

sometimes it catches.

something in me

doesn’t follow

and i feel it

drag.

a tension.

i try to listen

but my focus is already leaving.

pulling away

before i decide to let it.

everything stacks.

voices, movement,

one thing over another.

so i step back.

not to disappear.

just to quiet it.

until the noise settles

enough

to hear one thing at a time.