A Hug of People

We didn't know the guy

in the truck

who's that guy?

my sister asked,

and I wondered if city people

expected to know everyone

they saw around town.

I just saw a woman in the locker room

she's known me since before I knew what knowing meant

she's the one who asked if the kid was my boyfriend

that time I saw her skiing

he wasn't,

but that's the kind of thing you don't keep quiet

around here.

And when I told the woman checking me in at the gym

my name

she nodded like

of course it was me

I never go to the gym

but the gym lady knows me too.

It's soft like a pillow

and comfortable like knowing the leaves will get orange in October

having a big hug of people

around me.