The Beauty of Strangers ~by Dennis Hernandez

There are tongues

that speak to us more

sincerely and closely

than ever could one’s mother,

or dared our brethren

among us.

There are signed confessions brought forth

one can only make out

to a stranger,

determined secrets revealed

without our knowing,

while attaining from them

a self they will never meet.

There are jaded glances

that replenish us anew,

hold us still and

challenge our humanity,

resetting the game in no-one's favor.

There are backward stares

looking forward beyond,

beyond our eternal place of hiding,

stares that read,

“Do not be fooled

by my looks,

by my gaze,

be fooled only

by my relinquish.”

There is transmission

of silences

carrying moments

of speechlessness,

moments of honoring the dead,

moments of waiting one’s turn,

their turn before you.

Copyright 2021. Dennis Hernandez. All rights reserved.