To come upon him then and there
delights me beyond reason.
His face, so out of place
among the rushing swim of faces,
seems a beacon or an anchoring
within the throng of shoppers
whirling on and on around us.
Below the flow of words
there stirs an undercurrent,
like an estuary, arm of some
much deeper and mysterious sea.
I let it take me in, its pull
erasing all the other faces,
other sounds evaportaing.
In the very moment that I feel
compelled to make my hand a wave
that crests and gently breaks
along the fine edge of his face,
etched line of cheek and chin,
the child, who at my elbow waits,
runs out of patience and I feel
the tugging-at-me of her eyes.
It is just as well, and still...
I carry our encounter like
a careful package, tissue
wrapped, stamped 'fragile';
knowing later I will take
it out and look at it again.
-- Deb Cooper