Love Poem: Strangers
Elizabeth Kurtz Avatar
Written by: Elizabeth Kurtz

Strangers

So I saw this woman today,
She looked familiar.
Like someone I’ve seen before,
Well basically someone I knew.
She outwardly represented something,
Something that was real,
Something that was true.
I initially chose not to talk to her,
But just stared in silence & she did the same
She seemed to recognize me also.
But when I opened my mouth to finally say something,
 It caught her off guard &
I realized it was futile she doesn’t hear me,
She’s just there.
I tried to figure out why she looks so tired.
Worn out,
Like she had no hope,
Like she was lost,
All the happiness was gone,
Drained from her face,
No smile

I kept staring,
I swear I knew her. 
The more I studied her face,
The more she studied mine,

Then it dawned on me,
I realized who it was.
But I was too afraid to say anything,
I was too afraid to take the initiative.
It’s incredible how the memories flooded back
She was the same person I knew,
The same girl,
Well grown up woman now.
Just a stranger because we never talk anymore
She still shared similar interests,
Still so much like me,
How did I know this?

Because like every time we had passed before,
She dresses like me,
She wears the same thing.
But at the same time,
She was too different for me to familiarize myself with anymore
Other than being grown up,
Something else was different about her,
That reason she looked so tired,
That glazed looked in her eyes.
She seemed almost in pain,
Like she was struggling,
Almost fed up.
I tried to get her to talk,
But every time I coaxed her,
She would cut me off & vice a versa
Needless to say,
To make a long story short
Stay in touch with those from your past,
Before you know it…

Your own reflection is a complete stranger.