To a Stranger
Passing stranger!
you do not know how longingly
I look upon you.
You must be he I was seeking, or she
I was seeking, (it comes to me as
of a dream.)
I have somewhere surely lived a life
of joy with you,
All is recall'd as we flit by each other,
fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured,
You grew up with me, were a boy with
me or a girl with me.
I ate with you and slept with you, your
body has become not yours only, nor
left my body mine only.
You give me the pleasure of your eyes,
face, flesh, as we pass, you take of my
beard, breast, hands, in return,
I am not to speak to you, I am to think
of you when I sit alone or wake at night
alone.
I am to wait, I do not doubt I am to meet
you again.
I am to see to it that I do not lose you.
