Look and Listen by Nikolai Dimasilaw (15, Philippines)

Look them in the eye
           or they’ll think you aren’t there.
Look them in the eye
           or they’ll think you aren’t listening.
When you don’t look them in the eye
           you give them the power to claim you’re
           nothing 
                      more
           than     a    ghost

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who isn’t truly present,
           but hides in the dusty nooks and crannies
           of reality
and doesn’t listen, but knows
           exactly
           what is happening

​Look them in the eye
           or they won’t let you speak.
Look them in the eye
           or they won’t speak to you.
When you don’t look them in the eye
           you lose the privilege of rambling about
           every     exquisite      detail about
           ​the new shiny interest you’ve found
they’ll take it all away
           they won’t listen
because you “haven’t been listening”
           no, but you have been
they just can’t know you

Look them in the eye
           and become one of them
Look them in the eye
           and smile and nod
When you don’t look them in the eye
           you are different, you are strange
           a transparent spirit on the off-beat
           but when you do
you are an ordinarily precocious little creature
           and you are woven amongst them
           in the stone-cold grip of staring them in the eye
hiding and waiting until you can let     it    go.

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