Heartbeat Beside Your Own
I spread my arms and walk.
I smile. I nod.
I watch the world float beside me,
Sample this and that,
These things and those and you’d never,
For an instant,
Think to see if I were there.
I could be invisible.
I could close my eyes and slide,
Silently into another world.
I am the ghost, in your life, the heartbeat beside your own.
Each step a whisper, breath your breath.
Warm air on cool glass,
The only signs I am here.
You are open to me.
Unaware.
You are exposed. Your flaws,
Lovely failings, you come short.
I stop to stand behind you,
Wrapped tightly against the world
The chance you might stop to notice.
You came so far to stumble
I stopped so long ago
Beyond notice, my invisibility
In your eyes. Humble.