I crawl along the crumbling concrete
Eyes downcast kicking
The pebbles in my path
Ahead a stranger occupies my trajectory

We stick to the solace of the sidewalk
Dragging our feet across the broken cement
To our respective destinations
To the distant places that make sense to us

Our bodies are fused to this track
Our meeting is inevitable
As we draw closer I can
Make out the cracks in your exterior

The ashes in your eyes glow
As they dare to flicker across mine
Threatening to hope that
I may recognize our mutual humanity

That I may name you as more than stranger
That someday someone like me would
Stretch themselves out enough to
Fill in the lonely spaces between your atoms

In the mere seconds of our passing
You are ready to bare your teeth to me
You are ready to expose your belly to me
You are ready to lose yourself in me

If only I were ready to stop for you