IT’S JUST NOT THAT HARD

I read in a magazine about the ‘Silent ‘Sup’-
that little nod we give each other in passing.
It could go up or down, but here
it’s a cocky little chin toss, eyebrows lifted,
sometimes a smile, albeit a small one.

I walk every day up and down my road, twice,
trying to keep osteoporosis at bay.
I must make quite a sight, an old, white lady
with big headphones, belting out the songs,
arms waving in time to the music.

The boy cruising on the ATV was brown and handsome.
He could have been my grandson for god’s sake.
Passing each other, we both gave the ‘Silent ‘Sup’
then big, big smiles. At first, I thought-Ridiculous!
He’s probably laughing all the way home.

Then I remembered. Where I live,
people make small talk. They let you turn,
let you merge into traffic. They throw shaka.
They look you in the eye.
It’s just not that hard to be kind.

Maybe he did laugh, later.
But in that moment,
it was as if it wasn’t us. 
Not an old woman or a young boy.
Just our hearts, nodding to each other.

Shaun R. Pankoski (she/her) is a poet most recently from Volcano, Hawaii. A retired county worker and two-time breast cancer survivor, she has lived on both coasts as well as in the Midwest as an artist’s model, modern dancer, massage therapist and honorably discharged Air Force veteran. Her poems have appeared in several literary publications, including Gargoyle, Gyroscope, Sheila-na-Gig, and ONE ART.