My pace increases

My gaze flits to the ground

I see him turn the corner

He’s coming towards me now

His eyes look straight ahead, right through me

His charming grin, I wish, was aimed at me

And though I try reluctantly to avoid his gaze

I hope, I pray, it finds me all the same

My heart pounds with worry

It aches with anxious pain

His eyes darken once they see me

His happy smile fades

I feel the tension in the air, when our eyes meet

I don’t notice how quickly my mind blurs away the street

My heart leaps as our coats brush and he walks away

And I discover on the tip of my tongue sits his name.

My head spins with questions

My chest slowly tightens

My breaths grow shallower and sharper

My thoughts darken as the day brightens

The sun, overshadowed by my pain, refracts in my tears

In the muddled thinking of my mind, I realize my fears

For how was I supposed to guess that this way it would end?

All I know now is that this stranger in the street was yesterday my friend.