“Tell Me Sweet Little Lies”
We ask people
How are you doing?
because it’s the easiest way
to prevent them from actually
telling us how they are doing
But during the pandemic
we were coached not to ask people
How are you doing?
because while under normal circumstances
our presence compensates
for our absence of interest
under lockdown our absence of interest
only compounded our absence
Post-pandemic I have learned to pause
when someone asks
How are you doing?
in the hopes that a moment of silence
will honor the truth
before I move on to acknowledge
their need for the comfort of sweet little lies
