Stranger...

Watching the crowd pass, like windblown leaves,

A few folk stop, to show how they grieve,

Some of them you knew, in a distant past,

When the grass was green, and promises would last,

Now at the end, of fortune's eave

You wipe your brow on a torn sleeve

As you stand alone, while friends fade fast.

You remember a time when faces had names,

When laughter was alive amidst fun and games,

But all it took was a single stroke,

To make eyes blind… and your voice choke

The loss of a dream and the death of an aim

Took you to oblivion from the hall of fame,

While your crooning friends began to croak.

You thought you knew them, thought they’d stay

When inevitable doom stole everything away

But now their gaze is shielded from view,

Their smiles strained and attitudes new

How such change is possible, none can say

But darkness threatens… to overcome the day

Fortune spent, will take its dues.

And that’s why you sit, with your back to me,

Two lonely strangers in a night eerie

We watch people pass, from our perch on a rail,

We see some succeed while others fail,

All around, we have much to see,

But our ears are deaf to the night’s soiree

And we watch from shadows… as the world sets sail.

We observe the faces, of people around,

Their eyes have purpose, their ideals are sound,

But you and I are dead, all hollow inside,

In us is failure… where demons hide

I look upon you and my hope is drowned,

That one day I could, get back off the ground

So in our darkness we continue to abide

The street lights flicker as the night goes quiet,

An owl chirps softly, bidding good night

The road has emptied, yet we stay still

Our demons have not, yet had their fill

A lonely tramp shuffles, into our sight,

Even he seems filled, with some inner light,

In comparison we, look feverish and ill.

Little rings of gold, on the pavement dark,

Where we sit in silence, as quiet as a lark,

I sense solidarity, between us two,

In a world so foreign, all I know is you,

My hopes and dreams have missed their mark,

And so I listen, to their howls and bark

In this dead world, you are all that’s true.

Silence, my companion, is all we crave,

There are no more things that we wish to brave

Our need of solace and solemn support

Are answered only, by this quiet consort

Our presence to the night, we so readily gave

A quiet minute, we managed to save

Our troubles were lessened by this night court.

I turn around and am surprised to see,

I am alone, there’s no one with me

I could have sworn, you were here just now,

When did you leave? Where’d you go and how?

Perhaps I made you up, to be with me!

O stranger unreal, spawn of misery

I’ll never forget you, this I vow.