Lines connecting

Alone amidst the throng who pass me by

knowing they see only the outward shape of me

and nothing more

familiar copy of their own they see

yet see not me.

*

I share with them a common clay

breathe, eat, sleep, and pass each day as they

this I know, as they know too

still, we have not shared each other yet.

*

Oh there are some glances, nods, a few half smiles

telling me they are partly aware I'm there

some even dare to wave along our common way

superficially each passing ordinary day.

*

So much depends upon the mood, direction, purpose

of the moment when on byways common in our lives

we see, stop, maybe even surface greet a little

then pass on by.

*

If we could see back through the centuries

the flesh, blood and birth of each new human soul

and the distant lines connecting all our lives

perhaps then we'd want and even dare to say...

*

Hello there my friend and how are you today?

come and sit and eat and talk with me awhile.

It's good to share something of ourselves

to enjoy belonging to each other.

*

Dennis Crompton © 1998