you ruined me and you didn’t even know it
because you didn’t even know my name
but it was your smile
it was the brightest smile
i have seen in awhile.
i’ve been in the dark lately
so when your face lit up the room
i became attached
like a moth
to a fire

here is where
you begin stumbling
somewhere
between the known
and unknown

lost and found
still a stranger walking
in someone else's shoes

yet the eyes
seem familiar

and that hat

that coat

so many identities wrapped
within this same piece of skin
the same fragile fingers
feeling in the dark

lips broken
by unspoken words
of passion buried
in the corridors
of your mind

here is where
you are kneeling
at the feet of expectations
you can never
hope to meet

still a stranger

but that hat
...that coat



Harry Rout 2020