People Watching People

Sometimes I see someone so fascinating,

So absorbed,

And wonder if they know I’ve noticed them.

It’s hard not to seem starey.

People are simply beautiful, and interesting,

And devilish, and wicked, and sly, and

Radiating.

In a perfect world,

Everyone would just sit and look at one another.

Perfect figures and forms in every single one of

God’s iterations.

You wonder if people really know how beautiful they are,

Not in a vain way-

Although this is beautiful, too-

But in the sense that

Every movement,

Every smirk,

Every laugh,

Push of the glasses, scratch of the chin,

Is the most intricate tapestry imaginable.

Nature makes no aesthetic mistakes,

It just isn’t done.

When you meet their eyes,

Are they doing the same thing you are?

The greatest thing of all about most people

Is that they aren’t in on the secret,

And so you catch a glimpse in their eyes

Every now and then of the Great One

Beaming right back at you,

Oblivious to the perfection of its own disguise,

As charming as a child hiding behind its own hands.

But once you’ve realized what’s giving

Every single one of those magnificent glances,

You can never be fooled again.

Sometimes I want to be that sad and beautiful stranger

Who inspires such contemplation and compassion.

I heard a story once

About a man on a ferry,

And as he got off

A woman rushed on! right

Past him.

And she turned and

For one single microsecond

He saw her and she saw him

And he realized that

She was Demeter.

And now, every night,

He begs the moon to bring his love back to him

Just one more time.