he never knew me,
not even my name
but for me,
he was something
my days quietly revolved around.
i used to think
i wasn’t someone
the world would pause for,
and he
seemed to belong to a different light,
one that never quite reached me.
there were so many
who existed in his world,
and i was only
someone
who knew his.
my eyes
always searching,
learning the rhythm
of his coming and going,
the way he walked,
the way he smiled,
like small things
that somehow meant everything.
i knew
the way he walked in the sun,
hand raised to shield his eyes,
like the light was too much
even for him.
i used to wait
not for words,
just for a glance
that never really came.
lunch breaks felt shorter
when he was around,
and longer
when he wasn’t.
he was just a senior,
passing through years
i was still learning to live in.
and then one day,
he was gone
like a chapter
i never got to read twice.
and somehow,
i never looked for another story.