I see them

Anonymous in the crowd

Some of them know they are anonymous

Most of them don’t

They have places to go

and things to do

Their time is valuable

but they are less than a second in history

invisible in the dark

I prefer to watch those who know they are anonymous

there is fierceness in their faces

and sadness too

They aren’t waiting for anything

But you still find them

standing in a city park

or at a bus stop

they ride trains

and they go to jobs

There is something different in what they do

they take steps that have never been taken

and they don’t look around to be seen

They prefer anonymity

because it allows them to be different

and that is better

than being seen by the crowd

If they are recognized

it changes them

because who they thought they were

is now what someone else thinks

How can someone

compete with the opinions of a 1000?

In the end

We may get memorialized into something we are not

a statue without a face

eyes without expression

and a hard smile

To become what they want us to be

stationary

and without feeling.