To a friend unknown
How many feet have passed my way
adjacent prints on short paths
a name known
the sound of words exchanged
but with little echo or sustain?
As if a shade conjured
reaching to me as a blind man
not knowing what he wants
a common tugging without tension
a burden without weight
You are the promise
an unknown wish fulfilled
a part of creation uncountable
yet with an unspoken asssurance
I dare that you are real,
Warm to the touch
not a passing shadow, but light.
{I just made this up off the cuff on a Satuday morning (25 June 2006). I wrote it for a contest to write a poem about a member of a group of players in an online game. I added the note at the end: Sorry it isn’t humorous, but it expresses my longing to deeply know others at every chance life gives me, and you seem one of those people I would want to know.}