Strangers

Sometimes you are walking along a passage. It's dark. Alongside there are people, standing, watching you. All strangers. Unfamiliar in a way that breaks your heart. Their expressions are neutral, blank. They see you without seeing you. And you pass them without seeing them.

No spark of recognition. No spark of warmth. No spark at all.

And once in a while you may suddenly see someone. A face. A gesture. An expression. And you stop and turn. And your heart fills with joy.

It's someone. You know. You love. Perhaps family. Perhaps more.

And you look closely...but they melt into smoke. And you think you must have just imagined it. That spark of recognition. That slight uplift of spirits. Yes, you must have.

And you walk on wearier than before. Because for that tiny moment there was hope. That this darkness would lift. Some light. Some joy. Some tenderness. Some love.

But maybe this journey is solitary. Maybe there is meant to be no recognition. Only blank faces against a beige wall that fade into indifference.

And maybe, for now, this is all it's supposed to be.