Initial Conditions

astringency

today, from alexandria, we both bounded
nearly crashing, like cymbals, into one another,
neither anticipating the other;
every rehearsed word shriveled in my mouth,
and only dusty wind from my lungs came out,
and when some unknown astringent dried my tongue
and from nowhere star struck me dumb
all i could do was say hey and run,
as if i cared so little or was too loosely strung.
when will our next small convocation finally come?
i have a dissertation to defend and degrees, you, to confer upon;
alas in your presence, my reservoir,
empty, no longer reflects the stars,
but by their light i seek what once yet never was

🙊

I don't know how to capitalize on serendipity, but this was another of hundreds of chance encounters where I could have. I had so much to say, but the words just caught in my throat. Just after the opportunity had passed, this poem is what I wrote.