The Possibility of Happenstance – A Poem

The possibility thrilled me.

The thought that something was

waiting for me, right around

the corner. All I had to do

was wait for it.

I was impatient though

and couldn’t wait.

I searched for it instead.

I looked everywhere

for this possibility, this

chance encounter that I

wanted with every

fibre of my being.

I looked around buildings

but only saw alley ways.

I looked into windows,

but only saw my reflection.

I looked in stores

and saw only masses

of people passing me by.

I would search the sky

for clues of my future,

I would read the fortunes that

came inside of cookies

to see when it would happen,

to see if it would happen.

I was looking so hard

that I almost missed it,

almost walked by it.

I was out looking at

life passing me by

when a stranger said to me:

“What are you looking for?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know.”

I didn’t know how

to put into words

the urgency I

was filled with.

The stranger, a woman

wearing a red dress

and black gloves

looked at me with a gaze

that saw everything.

“Well, until you

figure out what you’re

searching for, isn’t half

the fun in living?

Fate knows what it

has in store for you already.

The least you can do is

live your life until fate

delivers your due

and gets itself in order.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t understand you.”

She threw up her hands

in exasperation.

“Why, you have to believe

in the possibility

of happenstance.

You have to engage with life,

truly live it.

Then that chance,

that possibility,

will show itself.”

“How can I do that?”

I asked her. I was

mesmerized by her,

by the conviction

with which she spoke.

“By believing that

the impossible

isn’t so impossible

after all.”

She tipped her

head to me.

“I hope you find

what your searching for.

But have fun

in the meantime, okay?”

She walked on

and I wondered

at the world

that had suddenly

grown brighter

around me.