The First Time I Saw You
The first time I saw you
You were walking,
Your naughty dog and you,
Beside the canal,
In the same place
Where I had looked at you
All those other times.
All those other times
When an internal bristle
Of reluctance
Of resistance
Of aversion to small talk
Had swum so close to the surface
Underneath the polite
'Hello!'
But this day
A sunbeam prised me open,
Or maybe a breeze blew me wide,
And I saw.
Underneath the faint freckles,
Underneath the time etched lines
Of a life that held all the joy and sadness
All at once.
So I saw.
Underneath your polite
'Hello!'
And I met you there.
I can't remember what you told me,
Or what details of your daily life
You chose to share that day
Because I didn't really hear them.
But I listened.
And so that day,
Underneath,
Whatever it was I mumbled,
I was able to reply.
'Yes.'
I said.
'I see you.'