noticing

Someone asked me today why I
don't notice
people and things,
why I forget names,
and seem like I
don't care.
I didn't know what
to say.
How to say that I
am too lost,
too worried,
too concerned
with me.
Too selfish to notice,
to care,
to like,
to love
that random person
on the sidewalk.
Too stuck in my
bubble.

I shrugged and kept walking.

And I felt stupid.

The rest of the way
back to the cold bricks,
I didn't notice anyone.
Anything.
I just walked,
head down as usual.
Thinking.

Because I felt stupid.

I'm sorry I didn't notice
until now.