Thoughts On a Passing Stranger

In walking mist between the sunshowers A careless passerby stumbles He stares awkwardly for a moment And then carries himself onwards, I could have known him but for his haste And was sure something familiar struck me about him, Perhaps the unshaved face The careless erratic approach The whole untidiness of his appearance, Something kept probing my thoughts Asking questions of him, Perhaps an old friend from the past Someone with whom I had shared many troubles, Perhaps no one that I knew at all But who resembled someone that I did, All these thoughts entered my head And disappeared without any satisfaction. W.A CHOLT. Copyright Fergal O Reilly. 1993.