Poem 210



Sometimes it’s not the physical attributes of a stranger but more an indefinable quality that makes you (think you) recognise them …

… considering I was 27 when I wrote this the twenty years was obviously me imagining myself forward in my life – but it’s true I have had this experience many times since … particularly if someone has died I have a tendency to start seeing them in crowds …



For An Instant

I thought I saw you but she was
too big to be you and the wrong city
besides
               though if twenty years
dresses you differently changes the colour
of your hair it could have been you
       bending on an island
in the traffic to tie your shoe

she looked up puzzled
to see love in my eyes



For An Instant