to person #2:
I will never forget how much empathy I felt
when you were hunched over at your desk,
scribbling about valentines day
being your favorite holiday,
when all of a sudden
you yelled "god ******" at the top of your lungs
and threw your pencil down
along with your fists.
you asked me what I would wish for
if I could have anything
and you never said please or thank you,
ever, as long as I'd known you
and you told me I was a piece of work
with that stupid little smile on your face
that I just wanted to smack off.
but you played jazz beautifully
and you smelled so strongly of soap next to me
as if you went home and scrubbed
every single skin cell off of your body
to make sure you were a new person
at the start of each day.