Bastard Bus Boy

i feared you

being a small fragile creature with doe eyes

ready to tuck my tail and hide

and you knew it

you let me know how off i-

how below all those around me i-

small and insignificant i-

Irrelevant

how squandered my potential-

was

i hated you

mocking me when i had no ground to gain

no whit to quip back

i saw the self-confident phrases written

in the seatbacks of the bus

I’m better than that

I’m trying my best

I’m doing all i can

i reached for them, tried to rip them out of the leather

throw them at you

but i couldn't because

none of them were true

i made them true

laughed in your face said

Look at me now,

So much better

i am

grown above the level you thought of me

shattered the glass ceiling placed above my head

good you said

keep going

i'll always be here to save you from falling

victim to the endless doe eyes of

weak and fragile

passiveness