Without pride, senses controlled,
born or to be born, we met as hilarious strangers,
each wanting something impossible.
I wanted all beings like you to be happy.
You wanted no being to deceive another.
For a brief moment, we were sincere.
Both of us, protected against the spirits of the dead,
on a darkened street, on the outskirts of the city,
waiting to cross over
George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Havana Times, South China Morning Post, The Buffalo News, and more.
See all his poems on Tea House here.