Wore jeans to her best friend’s cousin’s wedding

Just to deconstruct another construct

Which she was fond of doing

When she wasn’t busy running away.

Weight Watchers classes for well-defined asses

And drawers full of expired pool passes

Haunted her prophetic mind

With memories she refused to make.

Consoled and trolled by the playground parents

Who boasted their genetic legacy

Left upon a sand castle

Dangerously close to the midnight tide.

She wished that babies guaranteed a future,

Not a future threatened

By fresh ways of self-destruction

In this maze of missed connection.

Used to be a master of hide-and-seek

Minus the seeking

‘Til she readjusted her strategy

And made it her mission to find and be found.

Sam Hendrian is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and poet striving to foster empathy through art. Every Sunday, he writes personalized poems for passersby outside of Chevalier’s Books, LA’s oldest independent bookstore. You can find his poetry and film links on Instagram at @samhendrian143. 

Authors Notes: My poems "Maze of Missed Connection" and "Rare Accurate Predictions" explore the ironies hidden within the human quest for community and belonging; we often reject opportunities to connect with people out of pride or even greed, waiting 'til "something better" comes along. But if we were to humble ourselves and be more open to the kindness of others -- no matter how flawed and fragile it often is -- we may inch closer to finding the sense of community we crave.