I take a deep breath
and look toward the door.
My grandfather nods.
An errand for Mrs. Hershkowitz?
He looks at me for a long time,
then he nods.
You hoping she’ll let you walk the dog?
I smile.
I hold the tightly wrapped
package of roast beef under my arm
and walk back toward her apartment.
I like the cracks in the old sidewalk,
how they fill with water when it rains.
Inside are tiny ecosystems,
snails and other animals living their own
tiny lives. I wonder if they see me.
I feel like sometimes I live
in my own ecosystem
that nobody else understands.
Maybe, like the snails,
it’s okay to just be quiet sometimes.