day two: Outsider

i walk the same path
with this city alive
i am the walking dead
as i pass
music and laughter announce themselves through well-used doorways
mind's camera clicks faces
i gaze from outside
at the matching open-mouthed smiles
distributed throughout the table
for me, happiness was long ago
i know no one here
no one knows me

i have money
i have a job
where no one knows me
they lower their voices as i pass

maybe talking again about
the accident
my car off the bridge
broken glass
singing sirens
i lost her that night
along with who i was

the music plays
for them and the streets
filling the freshly-scrubbed sidewalks
the passing cars seem happy
purposeful
large glass windows reveal waiters
balancing steaming plates
serving patrons without emotion
they look down into their plates
as if to tell their fortunes
i know mine already
it is to walk
this same path
alone
forever