i recognised you by the weight of your stare,
not your clothes or your face or your height.
it's been so long since i looked at you
that all your details have blurred, bled.
but i know you by the solemness
with which your eyes
will set upon me.

i turned on my heel faster than i could think
& when thinking later, i wish that i hadn't.

you sat outside smoking the stub of a cigarette,
forcing me to stare at you like i would not before.

your move, my move, your move, my move.

i might gesture to a chair ask
if it's free? you will reply
that it was never taken. well,
only fleetingly, only shortly.

will i tell you what a liar you are?
would you even care to know?