An experience of Oneness

I join their families for moments

as I walk behind them on the boardwalk.

I can smell her shampoo, his aftershave I

could reach out and hold their daughter’s

hand.

I become linked to them for a small duration

of their lives, I listen to their inside

conversations, unnoticed. I am so close I

could pose with them for their family

portraits.

We affect each other as we stand,

side-by-side, unassuming.

They have no idea how closely I

watch as they come and go on the

boardwalk.

Or how strongly they smell of last nights

dinner. I am apart of their existence for

instances, brushing up against their rain

jackets, not bothering to say, “Excuse

me.”

For the moment we’re enmeshed.