tripping deeply
a proverbial big toe
caught on something
unseeable like jet black
stone on dark path at night
and being unseen, remaining
unknowable, like the vague face
of a passerby calling out your name
while your steady powers of facial recall
fail to produce a name and draw into doubt
the idea that you really ever knew this stranger
leaving you to acknowledge they exist with a meager
“hey!”, and a head nod, craning to look back over shoulder.