Words for a Stranger

a poem about how people we meet passingly can affect our lives

Rain thunders on the roof, 

seeping through any available space and crack in the rickety old apartment. 

She sits at the kitchen table.

The table once sat two,

 but only one chair is now occupied.

The television drones on in another room.

“Breaking news, escaped, potentially dangerous prisoner…”

She turn the TV off with a click.

A discarded coffee cup still sits across from her. 

She could not bear to move it.

She hadn’t moved any of her brother’s things. 

The small apartment they had shared still spoke of his existence. 

His coat still hung by the door. 

His books still collected dust on the shelves.

His mug still sat on the table.

Heart attack.

He’d always been frail. 

His heart had always been weak.

But, the doctors had said he was looking better, 

That he might be able to play sports again.

Then It happened, and the glass of her soul cracked;

And it hurt.

She stands suddenly from the table.

She has to get out. 

She has to get out of the place swimming with 

memories of the brother she lost.

 

She finds herself on a lone park bench.

She shivers without her coat.

She sits in silence for an eternity, 

Starring at nothing. 

The bench creaks as a weight settles on the other end.

She doesn’t turn to see who her bench-mate is.

She doesn’t look up until something warm wraps around her shoulders.

The rain has stopped.

She lifts her head to meet the stranger’s eyes.

He smiles;

“You looked cold, so I lent you my jacket. What are you doing out on a day like this?”

“Is that any of your business?”

“No, but I’ll listen if you like.”

And she tells him.

All of it;

Her brother 

His disease

Her false hope

He listens closely,

And when the tears start falling,

He puts his arms around her 

And let’s her sob into his shoulder.

It’s weird,

Because she doesn’t even know him

But

That almost makes it better.

“It’s not your fault.”

He tells her.

He is the first to do so. 

She doesn’t know anything about him,

But his presence comforts her

Perhaps all she needed was unbiased words

Words from a stranger 

The next day

She cleans up the dirty coffee mug.

She moves her brother’s coat.

She dusts off his books.

She smiles when her favorite song comes on the radio.

She turns on the TV,

letting it hum in the background.

“Breaking News: the escaped criminal from…”

She vacuums.

“Broke into the library…” 

She cleans the windows.

“Only one causality…”

She glances at the screen. 

The man from the park. 

She freezes. 

It’s raining again. 

The glass shatters.