Why I speak to strangers at the mall

Sometimes I speak to strangers at the mall.

The conversation starts out casually

with talk about the rising cost of things,

about the weather, or our favorite teams.

But then I tell them how my son has died

too young and how it shouldn’t be that way.

Some look at me askance, embarrassed

to be hearing this from someone they don’t know.

Others seem compassionate; yet others

tell me when and how they lost a loved one

too. It doesn’t really matter what they say

or if they think my sharing this is strange.

For me it hurts, like picking at a scab,

one covering a wound that will not heal.

It makes the blood run fresh and hot and new

as though I lost him only yesterday.

Still I do it and know the reason why

I choose to speak to strangers in a crowd…

…Sometimes I need to say his name out loud.