Babysitting

He was sitting out front the bar
and I asked him why he was sitting
in the gutter with the cigarette butts
and he said he wanted to be different,
that everyone stood outside bars
and that he didn't just want to be another
one of them

and I looked around
there was no one else there
just me standing and him sitting

and when I turned to walk away
he jumped up: hey where you going?
keep sitting, I said, don't give up on yourself
so easily

then I gave a quick wave back
as he hollered
before I rounded the corner

unsure of that
myself.