Covers

I’ve always been told,

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

But I do. 

Not just books, but people, too.

I see them with their tattoos and spiky hair

Or with their too-big pants falling around their knees

Or smoking something on the corner

And I close the book and walk away.

I don’t stop to wonder what happened

In their past to make them this way.

Bad friends, a broken childhood,

A life that went downhill?  Everyone has a story.

Maybe, if I look past that scary exterior,

I’ll find a book worth reading,

A friend worth having.  Maybe they have something

To teach me, to show me.

All I have to do is open the book.