The Man Behind The Mask

Zoomers are a funny generation

They can start a online empire

but are too scared

to ask the girl they like

out for coffee

*

He told me

he’s over Tinder

That it’s not getting him

what he wants

*

“That’s why I don’t do Tinder.”

*

“Then how do you meet people?”

“I swipe right in real life.”

*

"You're not afraid of getting rejected?"

"I'm more afraid of looking back

and regretting not taking the chance

to go for what I want in life."

*

“And that works!?”

“It got me a date last Monday.”

*

It was a ½ blind date

That’s the weird part about

hitting on people during quarantine

You only know their eyes and their voice

*

I could tell he was an Aquarius

when he texted me

“Have you seen my whole face yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Does that make you nervous?”

“Nah.”

*

I love a good mystery

but I was curious to see

Who is the man behind the mask

with the slow voice and the curly hair?

*

When I got to the door

I realized I made the right swipe

*

His face was adorned

with a mustache I did not expect

draped over a smile that was priceless

*

He was nervous about me hitting

on people like that often

So, I told him the truth

“I stay low key,

but I felt like you were worth

shooting my shot.”

*

I was nervous because

he told me he sold

drugs to college kids at UCSB

and I promised myself

“I’m done dating drug dealers.”

But he told me the truth

That it was a phase when he was 19

Now he’s focused on healing

*

Once we eased the discomfort

things were easy

We talked

We played

We took in

the comfortable silences

*

Aquarians are weird as fuck

and I love that

*

Because I can take off my skin

and be the alien that I am

*

We spent the evening

without any expectations

but just to understand

who the other person is

behind the mask