RWP: Chance Encounter

Read Write Prompt #99: Setting the Scene

This week Andre challenges us to “write a poem that tells a narrowly focused story — a “scene” — without telling the story. Instead, convey the essence of the scene through your description of the world in which it takes place and the “characters” (who don’t have to be human or even “alive”) that inhabit it”. Here’s my narrative of a few moments that take place within a much larger and longer story.

Chance Encounter

suddenly, from the corner of her
eye she saw him at the
end of the hallway trying
to appear nonchalant,
an endearing moment that
made her heart jump in
her throat, the speaker was
droning on and on as

she tried to focus on the words
and he slowly walked toward her
from the corner of her eye she
could see his gaze was directly on
her face, she shifted in her chair
a cold metal folding chair and her
elbow brushed the person next to her
“excuse me”, “no problem”

but the problem was getting closer and
his gaze was creating a flush of red
she could feel rising from her neck to
the widow’s peak of her hairline
closer still and her breath came in
small gasps, like the small puffs of
steam emitted from a heating tea kettle
the words of the speaker were now

muffled as if spoken from outside a
padded room - blah, blah, blah -
is all she heard, while her total
focus became not meeting his eyes
while wanting ever so desperately to,
looking without looking as he drifted in
and out of view between the rows

suddenly she realizes he has passed and
just as she closes her eyes in relief and
disappointment, feels a hand on her shoulder
he is behind her and he whispers
“I just wanted to say hello”
she turns her head toward him but doesn’t
raise her stinging eyes, only nods as she croaks,
“I was leaving that up to you”