So I kept looking back at my email
and my website
to see if anyone had said
“You are wonderful”
(in a specific way that showed
the words had substance)
even though I knew
it was ridiculous to.

At the store earlier
I was grateful
for everyone I had to wait for,
everyone who gave me the chance
to make space for them,
to give them room
in my thought
to reveal themselves
in their unique, bright glory —
it was the least I could do.

Perhaps it’s best for me
to get no feedback
lest I be wrongly trained
to keep returning to that site
like a once-fed raccoon
pawing, ever after
at the back door.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 18, 2015