strangers
grown ups used to say
never talk to strangers
they could steal you and keep you
locked up in their basement
only now you’re lying on an empty bed
littered with laundry
in a tiny studio apartment
in a crowded city that never sleeps
gosh, maybe a dark room
with an upstairs roommate
you never see
doesn’t sound so awful…
-
but even the vans with no windows
pass you right on by
so you resort to the classified ads
swiping through endless pictures of strangers
maybe tonight you’ll find your soulmate
maybe tomorrow you’ll go grab a drink
with the lesser of five hundred evils
and it will end up being the last one
maybe next week you’ll stop yearning
when you see young love
and maybe next year
you’ll be picking out flower arrangements
making a guest list
smiling at your friends
because you finally won at something.
-
but right here and now,
it’s a race to no finish line
seems like everyone in this cursed town
is looking for no one
and even if they brush your hair back
look into your tired eyes
and promise the opposite,
you’ll still wake up in that same empty bed
wash your clothes of all the wasted nights
and leave them unfolded
all over your bedspread.
-
there it is again
that funny feeling
clawing at the corners of your chest
making its presence known
when you’re out with your friends
or walking through the park
or sipping your morning coffee
is it sorrow?
longing?
anger?
embarrassment?
regret?
loneliness?
lately it just feels like a hot mess
burning at your cheeks
as you walk up to the bar
searching for the stranger
who looked alright on the internet.
-
god, you wish it was easier
hasn’t ai found an algorithm
more reliable than pictures?
swear you’ve passed by
the same old guy
a thousand times
a beanie hiding a balding head
a mustache covering an evil smile
a conversation as interesting as
what you do for work.
-
work, that’s it!
that was the feeling all along
how is it you have two jobs
work overtime
never take a lunch
and still when the paycheck comes,
you have no sense of security?
insecurity
a generational plague
that has us chasing our own tails
running in circles
repeating ourselves
if only to wake up next to someone else.
-
and when you fail at it again,
you’ll find yourself dragging your feet
to that familiar dark web
getting stuck in your same delusions
how sweet it is
to daydream a life
with a stranger right there
by your heavenly side.
