NaPoWriMo19 Poem 2: Not My Stories

 NaPoWriMo #2

"These are not my stories"

I got in line behind him
and he moved his phone
to a safer location

I was asked to clean up
a nasty mess in the bathroom
like I was the janitor
again

Without blinking
he asked what sport
got me into school

Excited for charity work
I went to build a house
but the future owners
didn't want my hands
near their foundation

As the couple who was there first
finished pumping their gas
he said I couldn't get any
not here

My roommate
can't tell his parents
the color of my skin
They couldn't handle it

These are not my stories
but they belong
to real people

These are not my stories
but I hear them


These are not my stories
but I wish I could stop them

before they happen
before they weave their way
into someone's narrative