Strangers

He knew their faces, knew them well,

saw them every day.

When they weren’t present on their appointed time,

he always wondered about their fate.

They never looked at him,

when he was looking at them,

and never shared a sound;

not hello, good-bye, or how’s the weather,

their lips were sealed against verbs and nouns.

 

They were his daily companions,

he knew them well,

saw them every day,

and knew the gulf between him and them,

and wondered why it wouldn’t go away.