Strangers Again.
by Chase Odell
University of the Incarnate Word
Chase Odell is a sophomore majoring in General Business. Inspired by heartbreak a year ago, Chase’s piece explores the oddity of bonding with a stranger who becomes an essential part of your life, only to drift away, leaving a once-intimate connection feeling unfamiliar.
You began as a mere name,
Entering one ear and exiting the other.
As time passed, that name gained depth,
Becoming a vessel for my feelings towards you—
My love, my lust, my passion.
Passion, they say, entails suffering,
While compassion signifies shared suffering.
I had no idea of how much I'd endure with you,
Yet, I'd willingly repeat it all for just one more week.
I cannot be blamed for this masochism,
For I am fully enamored with you.
I realize from an outsider’s perspective that certain matters of the heart make no sense
How can you know this pain unless you too have succumbed to it?
But I cannot fully convey that when you love someone with everything you are,
You will move the world to forgive them.
You once possessed my entire being,
But now, it's the insidious sensation
Of commencing as strangers and concluding as strangers once more.
