Between

Shane McCrae

I stood on the bridge in the sky on the bridge between
Two buildings    at the second floor but in
Between the buildings so in neither one

But in the sky       on the second floor in the sky
Barely I had just barely       stepped from the
Nordstrom to cross to the food court barely and I

Now I stood looking down       still       looking down
At the white boy with the Nazi armband on
Below me to my right below me then

I turned and he was right in front of me
A floor below me       smoking talking we
Would have stood face to face him turned away

From me and to my right away       and smiling
Talking to the white girl leaning       against the wall her
Back against the wall him turning also

Sometimes away from her       and to her right
To blow his smoke away from her his       left
They stood so close together they might have kissed

They didn’t kiss       I watched from the sky       but they
Still might have loved       each other I watched afraid
That if they loved each other I would see

Shane McCrae is the author of Sometimes I Never Suffered among other books. He has received a Lannan Literary Award, a Whiting Writer’s Award, and an NEA fellowship. He teaches at Columbia University and lives in New York City.
Originally published:
November 1, 2017

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