From the collection published in 2021, And Don’t Come Back.
The Neighbor Lady
Mrs. Skeet
hands on hips
standing firm on stubby legs
over tapered feet togged up in stylish ballet flats
All five feet two inches of her
lambasting the dog peeing on the grass strip
between the street and the sidewalk
in front of her olive stucco house
at seven o’clock this morning
So she’s back from Florida now
I guess.
1/30/20
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
A vivid description. I think I’ve seen her! 😀
I bet you have. She is everywhere, but she is also very individual, meaning, we have our local version, or one we knew in the past, that we think of, I feel, when we see others (I hope this makes sense). I am intrigued by the idea of there being these infinite categories of people and we all belong to many many subsets of people, recognizable and yet individual.
I know exactly what you mean. I said to my husband when we were watching the show “Yellow Jackets” that everyone has met a Misty–not this person/character exactly–but the girl/woman who doesn’t quite understand social cues and doesn’t quite fit in.
Yes, and I know in my life, my husband and I after all these years now have a shorthand for certain kinds of people based on one particular person we’ve met – you know, when you say the manager is a Jane Barnet, say, and the two of you know exactly what that means, does save time! And I wonder when I do it if there is someone out there saying, oh, then the Claudia McGill took over the paperwork… (I hope that means good things…)
Oh, it is strange thinking of someone applying it to oneself!
Yes. Downright makes your skin crawl, doesn’t it? We go around thinking we are not subject to the same things we are doing to others as far as observation. I guess it is a good thing or we’d die of looking over our shoulders all the time…
Yes, and with cameras everywhere now, too, who knows what images are out there?
Always the ones where you are picking your nose, right?
🤣
There is so much personality in this description. I can just imagine the scene and feel like I know this neighbour woman.
I am sure you know her, in your own version in your own life. I think we all know people in catgegories, individuals as they are, they are recognizable to others in all parts of the world because of some indefinable thing that helps us know them. (I wonder if this makes sense)
Hehe! She lives in my neighborhood!
Yes! I believe as individual as we each are, we are also parts of different categories and they are universal.