do you believe in fate?

not sure if fate is real
or if physics just makes like things
attract. maybe fate is a force—
like gravity, dropping us
into the same space:
you’d naturally
people-please,
and i’d naturally
come on too strong.

years ago, my friend’s friend
(they’re not friends anymore)
said i made her uncomfortable—
that i try too hard.
but if i didn’t try,
no one would notice.
why don’t they think of that?
if i weren’t overwhelming you,
you’d never see me at all.

like neighbors’ dogs—
unleashed, wandering, shock-collared—
they always find my yard.
i can’t call it fate exactly,
but we animals sense each other.
the dogs know i’ll be kind,
and i knew, from the start,
you might let me go too far—
while anyone else would let me
fade behind the fences they built..