Arts Alive San Antonio

We believe that many readers will easily connect with the thoughts and feelings expressed in Jean Hackett’s poem we are publishing today. The featured artwork “Hiding” is by the Colombian-born artist Sandra Mack Valencia whose imaginative, whimsical work is currently on view at the AnArte Gallery in San Antonio.

The Not So Maddening Crowd

By Jean Hackett

I was the cat who walked alone,
the bad mother who never took the kids to Disney
because I refused to brave the lines.
The friend who slithered backward
whenever an old acquaintance spread her arms
and squealed group hug.

Now I dream of being surrounded by crowds,
the warm jostles and overheard conversation
from the 3-generation family celebrating
Easter brunch at the next table.
The shared gasps and laughter
directed at the actors onstage
at a small Sunday matinee.
The rattle and hum of
10,000 feet stomping in unison
when the classic rockers jump onstage.

I long for the rustle of song sheets
as the congregation belts out off-key carols
before the manger on Christmas Eve.
Children shouting down polished hallways,
their new sneakers squeaking on the first day of school.
The seventh inning stretch.
The rhythmic jolts as we line dance or slam dance,
or accidentally rub shoulders
when we gather around the club’s grungy mirror to reapply make-up.

I hunger for encounters with coconut-scented tourists
clustered under candy-striped umbrellas,
as boom box reggae or metal music wafts with the waves.
Ache for shared spaces and smiles from familiar strangers.
Should we meet again after this shared isolation ends,
please greet me with more than a nodded hello.