Dreadielocks

You reminded me of me
the way you kicked one foot
out over the curb
when you saw it was safe to cross
and let it dangle
till the stoplight agreed

You smiled when I caught you
when you caught me
smiling at catching you
in an honest moment
almost glib
in its honesty

I've taken to telling people
that my mustache
is an altruist
and my beard
a selfish bastard
lazily creeping cross my face

Like any story
told too many times
a part of it has become true
so when I smiled
it was because I recognized
your hair was similarly unselfish

And like Goldilocks
we work our way through stories
told to us as children
till we find one that suits us
that we get lost in telling
when it sounds just right