Unbeknownst To Me

Unbeknownst To Me

He stood there, musing

As he often did

About deep and wondrous things

That only a poet could perceive.

I watched him from my window

Hidden in the shadows

Of lace curtains and pale moonlight

With no candle to show him

Who watched or why.

He stood by the street lamp

Leaning back and looking at the moon

Listening to the train sounds

From across the river

And the beating of his sad and soulful heart.

Three or four times a week, he came

And stood there in that place

Not speaking, not acknowledging a nod

Or a frown or a smile

Just standing there, musing

And I watched him with my own lonely heart

And longing in my eyes.

I didn't know him and yet I did

Did as well as I knew myself

And what I needed from the moon

And the world and life and poems

That had no end.

I needed to be seen and known

And found and loved

I needed to watch the moon

And listen to the train

And walk in the rain and share my pain

While holding the hand of the man

Whose heart I felt as deeply as my own.

I didn't know what I would do

The evening that he didn't show up

On my corner in the moonlight

To stand there watching the moon

And the world pass by............

(And unbeknownst to me...

Me in my shadowed window.)

I had no idea

That he thought the same thoughts about me

That he longed to look into my eyes

And hold my hand and kiss my lips

And sing me songs and read me poetry

For hours on end. I didn't know.

I see him look at his watch, 

Look up at the moon, 

Turn to walk down the street toward the river,

Turn around again and grab hold of the street lamp

And do a wild child-like twirl around it

And hear him laugh out loud.

Then to my amazement, he walks over to my building

Looks up at my window and whistles softly

"Hey, girl." he says and stands on his tip toes, stretching

"Hey, girl, you wanna come dance in the moonlight?"

"Hey, girl......" and before he can finish his question

I am out my door, down the stairs and outside

In the falling darkness, looking into his brown eyes.

"Finally." he says so quietly I'm not sure he spoke it

"I thought I would have to wait here forever."

And I question him with my shining eyes and he shrugs

"No, I'm not deranged, I'm just shy."

"So am I." I say like a whisper, laughing like a child

And we stare at one another in wonder and awe.

And unbeknownst to us

Two grandmothers somewhere say "Amen"

And bow their heads and clasp their hands

And smile toward Heaven thanking God

That their prayers have been answered at last

Prayers that their two lonely children 

Have finally found each other as was ordained

And before it was too late for them

To ever have known it

And that night around that street lamp

With the moon smiling down on us

And the song of the lonesome train

Serenading us with sweetness,

We found one another 

As though we had never been apart.

©By Voo

Dec 19, 2018 

3:42 p.m.