I saw him near the frozen peas

I saw him near the frozen peas,

a friend I haven't seen in three years.

He shook my hand with such ease

and spoke to the greatest of my fears.

'Congrats on the VP slot,' he said,

referring to the myth I spun back then

just to keep my ego fed

in front of all the successful men.

I nodded while the sweat began to crawl

under my collar, a prickling heat.

I let the fiction stand like a wall

between my pride and the grocery street.

A blue lanyard hangs from my mirror,

a generic scrap from a trade show floor.

It makes the lie look a little clearer

when I’m parking at the dollar store.