Haiku To A Stranger Poem by Fiona Schwartzinoff

Waiting in line
at the groceries,
You’re in the aisle
just next to mine.

I glance blankly at the magazines,
You scuff at the swept floor.
I crack my knuckles -
A solid sound.
You scratch the back of your neck
And moan a yawn.

I finally glance your way,
You glance mine.
Eyes met, two worlds touched,
For only a second.

We turned away
With smiles.
I look back at the magazines.
You scuff the floor again.

But we do so differently this time.
Everything is different,
A changed world.

It could be no more a phenomenon
Than the sun kissing the moon,
For two strangers glanced,
Smiled and understood.

It was only a second
Which was snuffed out
Like a candle in darkness,
Leaving behind a milky smoke
Of memory.

But in that brief moment,
Stranger,
We shared a lifetime.