Transient Crossing

Like wandering through
a gallery and fastening
on a particular painting
and letting it become
your universe for
seconds at a time,
like flipping through
the pages of a novel
until a certain passage

claims your attention,
its sense and illusion
spilling into your mind,
like meeting a stranger
at a cafe or airport
and feeling a sudden
rapport that has no
explanation beyond
the shared time,

a poem is a voice
from the end of the
bridge that leads
to another mind,
speaking in tongues
of flesh and blood,
laughter and fire,
revealing the selves
we harbor and define.

Appeared in Aoife's Kiss