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Surprise

by George Hoerner

i sat there in Barnes & Nobles

drinking my coffee

looking at a magazine

then i noticed him

sitting there a table or two away

he read and drank coffee

just as i was

and it dawned on me

he was around my age

growing older day by day

just as i was

he glanced up an smiled

maybe it was the look

on my face – surprise

but, but,

but he was black!

i bought my magazine

and left.

02/14/2007

Author's Note: I wonder what it takes to recognize a level of prejudice in ourselves!

Posted on 02/14/2007
Copyright © 2024 George Hoerner

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by P.T. Brooks on 02/14/07 at 10:31 PM

the cover is more than often judged, great write-pt

Posted by Becca Kinser on 02/15/07 at 02:45 PM

Well then.

Posted by Barbara Griffith on 01/12/08 at 11:39 PM

I like this because I can't pinpoint how I feel. It makes me a little angry, a little inspired, and a little guilty all at the same time.

Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 10/13/14 at 01:02 PM

sometimes its not so much a prejudice but a discomfort. and if perchance it was prejudicial, the virtue of such honest appraisal in oneself is an opportunity to correct or make adjustments to that assessment rather than denying and further elongating prejudicial fissures.

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