Strangers

17 January 2023

As I sit by candlelight,
I know the strangers of the night
who creep by windows fair and bright
to haunt the streets of all delight,
and all the days of love grown cold,
and all the stories never told,
and all the crying eyes behold
the lying eyes both young and old.
I see them in their shadows waiting,
see their fearful forms debating
whether love or lies abating
offer respite to their waiting,
whether love or lies can stir
the shadows that have stolen her,
the one whose love was soft as fur
who bristles now with prickly hide.
So come sit by my candlelight.
Come feast your eyes upon the sight
as strangers in the strangest night
sit man and man, sit side by side.