A poem
I saw him today
a little more grey a little more self-assured.
I know he saw me before he quickly looked away
remembrances can make you do that,
turn your back, as if
those yesterdays never did happen
when deep inside you know they did.
My friend felt my hesitation.
A little stumble nothing more, I said,
sucking in that sharp intake of breath
that catches you unawares
as you stand to urge yourself not to stare,
or even worse,
scream out at the top of your voice.
But of course you don’t,
people would stop, and offer up that little smirk,
marking you “unhinged”
whilst observing you
with such pity in their eyes.
I watched as you scurried deep into the crowd
fading further and further
prompting me to reflect, on how the tide
comes to go with an emptiness in between.
Often the lights go out
and the colours fuse together
before floating painlessly away.
Feeling better I took my friend’s arm jollying him along
“Coffee?” I enquired
Liking how you now felt,
almost as if a stranger to me
worn thin to fragmented bones
with the nothingness of us
left in-between.
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