On Not Coming to Meet Me
by Jem Golson
I was waiting in the cold wind today,
waiting late for the bus to roll around that concrete block.
Instead, a man drove by me on the quay,
driving by with his eyes on me as if we’d met before.
It nearly knocked me down, the suddenly
knowing he was not you, not here for me, would never be.
In gusts, I came alive again, in time,
catching that bus that finally melted into view.
Jem Golson is an American living near Tbilisi, Sakartvelo, where she and her husband assist refugees and asylum-seekers to start their own businesses and contribute positively to their new communities. To see more of Golson’s work, visit her Substack, Worlds Away; @jemgolson on Instagram; or jemgolson.com.