encounter

i was quite content, really,

breezing through the corridors—

happily dismissing anything that

didn’t rise above the gentle blur.

because a current of sadness

runs below each entanglement,

knowing you are bound to follow

each elusive thread to the same

conclusion:

that nothing in that assembly

of incidents and circumstance

can fulfil the illimitable promise

made by every first encounter.

and still, we cannot help but look.