Serendipitous

A morning of study and preparation.
Neighbour says 'see you tonight at Hall?'
I nod and head to town.

4 hours of straight teaching.

Hall at 7:20. The gallery is crowded and I am separated from
Neighbour and his friends.
I sit where I find a seat.

And you sit.
'We've met before but not officially'.

And we talk over dinner. You an international lawyer working on
the legal expediency of trying genocides; me a critic of prose fiction.

'Would you care to join me for a drink afterwards?'

(such a foreign question)

Boyish smile behind such sad and burdened eyes. Full of purpose and
disappointment. And we talk of the world - of Europe and social justice,
of art and music, of the merits of elitism (is that bad?) and opium of the masses,
of hard work and growing old(er). Structures of reference you say.

Two hours later and two empty glasses on the oak piano.
In the brisk English air on cobblestone steps there are
three Flemish kisses that catch me by surprise - a European good-bye.

Two strangers meeting mind to mind for one moment in time.

Posted on February 15, 2008 at 05:40PM