Glimpsed...

In Summer of 04' I saw a woman on the bus, and her expression inspired this poem. Its one of the better ones I've written of late. I plan to submit it for publication somewhere sometime in the near future.



Glimpsed but Not Seen

I saw it there,
like a flash.
A vision
fixed in the flicker of a lightning strike.
The healing wound,
the deathlike stillness
of the features.
Masking a pain
both
fresh and ancient.
I experienced in an instant
Insight
disolving into
Recognition
giving way to
Resignation.
In a moment of
displaced time.
I felt a shock
of familiar, icy, horror.
Fresh fear
that melted into
acknowlegement.
And quiet,
compassionate,
perhaps- cowardly
denial.
I did not see it,
I no longer wear
that face.