Shining

Today I met a man without a name.
When I looked at him he looked my way.
I was curious as to who this man really was, so
I tried to group my words in my mind, but
I couldn’t find the ones that form my thoughts.
So I stood there,
and he stood there,
silently staring in complete
wonder and amazement.

The moon was shining through
a window behind him and I wanted to say
What a beautiful moon we have tonight.But it
seemed to soon to ruin the silence with
unnecessary sound.
So, I stood there,
silently staring into his eyes, which were a deep,
dark brown.
We seemed to have an entire conversation
without ever opening our mouths.

He said he’s gone through half his life
and not a single moment has passed by
that he’s a bit proud of. And I said I, I
can change that. I can give you a life that you
can take home to your parents, that you
can brag about in your locker room rants
to your, so-called friends,
to your quasi tolerable co-workers
who can’t stop bragging about the
promotion that they got and you thought
you had in the bag.

He listened,
though he saw a future that I didn’t.
I couldn’t see that it was just a
fantasy that I couldn’t get out of my head.
Soon, he made me see.
He made me see the closed doors and the
broken floor boards of this
not so squeaky clean dream.

Tonight I conversed with man, he had no name.
And without ever once opening his mouth,
he told me about the nothings that cloud
his entire life so far.
I looked at him and he looked my way.
I couldn’t help but figure out that his
life mirrored mine.
A life like a cloudy April day.
Sad and depressingly grey.

Staring into the doorway of our future
selves, we couldn’t speak.
And when I say we, I really mean me.
Because I’m
silently staring into a combination of
silver and glass made to reflect
the innermost self.
But who am I?
Who is the man that stares back at me?