Vibrations were rising
Panic was on the horizon
Moving closer, quickly
Attempts to connect — I stuttered
I froze
Eyes darting everywhere but her gaze
Until, through my stunned silence
She put her infant in my arms
…
There were friends there.
I think there were so many friends there.
Surrounded, surrounded!
Some smiled with their eyes.
Some surprised me with their remembrance.
Most, I barely knew.
I turn my thoughts backwards, steering into nearby memories…
I recently saw a stranger online saying that there’s two kinds of loneliness.
She said there’s loneliness of being without someone. That’s the kind most think about or mean when they hear or use that word, and it’s certainly not a good feeling.
She went on to say that there’s another kind of loneliness…
A quarter century of shadows
Coating the brain
Decades of void
Staining the heart
I wonder what it feels like for the other kind
Both so close and so far from me
…
Young woman at the coffee shop, complete stranger, trusting myself and my friend to guard your expensive technology so you could leave the room for a break — your trust in us was heartwarming.
One step out the door
I take a deep breath
Inhale the sparkling air
With all the safety
Inherent in its cleanliness…
Low sun autumn sky
Those I pass by in the world
Each flawed each perfect
We take on different shapes for different rooms.