Stranger by Night
After I lost
my peripheral vision
I started getting sideswiped
by pedestrians cutting
in front of me
almost randomly
like memories
I couldn’t see coming
as I left the building
at twilight
or stepped gingerly
off the curb
or even just crossed
the wet pavement
to the stairs descending
precipitously
into the subway station
and I apologized
to every one
of those strangers
jostling me
in a world that had grown
stranger by night.
Feature Date
- October 1, 2018
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Copyright © 2018 by Edward Hirsch
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission
Fall 2018
Berkeley, California
Editor and Publisher
Wendy Lesser
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