SURVIVAL

he bullied me
all the time
in grammar school
then in early high school
everybody saw it
they laughed at me
he stole my cigarettes
then everyone left
and i sat alone
on park benches
with such great anger
i promised i would get even
someday

i grew up
went to college
gained some smarts
and some muscle
but the hurt still lingered
i was damaged
but hid it away
in some small corner
of my psyche

i went on to a man's world
construction work
machines
tunnels
dangerous work
that required guts
and a lot of perspiration
i was has hard as the rock
and the men i worked with
i was ready
for when i met him again

he was an office worker now
pudgy, white-collar worldly
no longer to be feared
and i sat at a round table with him
and the people who saw what he did to me
i was drunk
and he was afraid
i sensed it in all my being
so i challenged him to go outside
to see if he could still steal my smokes
he declined
my buddy told me to stop
so i did

i found that i wasn't proud of this
saw him some ten years later
at a reunion
we'd both experienced cancer
his was worse
we both made it through
and i was truly glad for him
his swagger was gone
and so was mine
we both had learned something
respect for one-another
and humility
we were survivors
brothers at last.