Brace

I limp to conversations

And brace myself

Waiting for the bottoms of boots

to crush me

into the playground blacktop

Waiting for the voices of amateur comics

to shout me

as a punchline

to a joke yet unwritten

Waiting to be unheard

or heard, and ignored

I see you
Brace yourself

And I remember

For a moment

How heard

How loud

How crushing

My words can be

Your silence calling Bullshit

on mine