Classic Poem

Of course we all hope — indeed,
assume — we matter to others, so
that, alone in a strange city,
we've still with us this need-
ful, if minuscule, ratio
of honor, or note, or pity.

That this should be no less so
even when in the first place
it was their claims upon us
that drove us off as though
to exile and disgrace
remains mysterious.