Whose fault is it anyway?

If you listen carefully

people will tell you who they are

in the way they gaze out of car windows

how closely they watch the rain

and how long they take to make a silence comfortable

or awkward.

If you listen carefully, they’ll drop hints

in cruel jokes and unsolicited advice

In the miles they ran and promptly shared

in unmade beds and fake news

in the pleasure they seek in someone else’s misery

in casual curses and overdone compliments

in the photos they take on holidays

in holidays they take for the photos

in their measly tips and overwhelming perfume

in selfish sex and insincere apologies

and in that very last slice

they didn’t offer but chose to eat.

You’ll find a braggart, a Home Minister, someone sinister,

43 red flags

a poet, a pen pusher, a slob, a gossip, a hopeless romantic,

the HR manager at a cement factory,

and the man who was obviously going to break your heart

if only you had chosen to listen.

Because people will always tell you who they are,

but are you ready to believe them?