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The book The House of the World has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and is now available on Amazon.

The Soul of a Stranger

If I stand aside
do not think I am shy
or indifferent.
I am absorbed in your shadow.
I discover how light changes,
entering your eyes.
I hear words which cover time,
and what you say
is a song coming from forever.
You are like a stone
I hold in my hand.

You are pure substance.
The world has shaped you
and I feel the edges.
I see stars shine in the quartz,
I feel the wetness of a river
that flowed over you,
carried you to the bank,
let the moon polish you like rain
until the treasure of your life
became clear.

From afar your form
is like a particle of sand,
like a star
hung in radiance
on the cloth of a galaxy,
but to me,
how unique,
how singular,
how beautiful the melody
that reaches silently across a room,
and touches me.

If I hold back,
it is because
I need time to open my eyes,
to prepare my heart,
to pause
and listen to what I hear,
before I say hello,
and pass pleasantries,
keeping to myself
what I see in your soul.

Published inIndex of all Poems