Ode to a Stranger

written while walking down the streets of Manhattan, age 13

I see you

And you see me

I do not know who you are

I do not know where you have been

I might never know your name

Or smell the scent that brings you home

I may never know how you like your coffee or

If you lay awake at night like I do

I won’t understand

What brought you to this moment

Or how you like your eggs on a Sunday morning

If your mind is on the ground right now

Or if it’s up in the clouds

And when I look into your eyes

I do not know what they have seen

How they wander when you walk the earth

And I will never feel what you carry

The weight of the clothes on your back

I will never hear the demons in your mind

I will never know if you

feel alive

I may not know who you are

I do not know where you have been

But I know that

you are

And that is reason enough

to smile