Flower Fog – A Poem

“You have no idea who I am, do you?”

The truth was,

as I saw

the woman approaching

along the crosswalk,

a smile of

recognition on her

face, I figured

she knew me.

As she came

closer, I searched

for her name,

tried to recall

it, tried to

pluck it out

of the fog

that had bloomed

inside my head

like a flower

made of fog.

As she got

near to me

and saw no

smile of recognition

in my face,

she slowed and

the smile faded

from her mouth.

“You have no idea who I am, do you?”

I looked at

her, at the

shape of her

face, heard the

tone of her

voice. I dived

into the fog

and hoped I

would come out

with her name.

Once, when I

saw someone who

I knew, I

called her by

a different name,

Sarah instead of

Stacey. She had

been insulted but

I didn’t bother

explaining. She wouldn’t

have understood. I

swam inside the

fog that was

like a flower

this time and

came up for

air, clutching a

name. I let

it flow from

my tongue and

hoped it was

the right one.

“Of course I know you. You’re Joanne.”

She smiled, but

it didn’t have

the same vitality

as before. She

looked slightly put

out as if

remembering her name

didn’t let me

off the hook

entirely. We talked

briefly, but it

lacked the warmth

there would have

been had I

greeted her with

a smile. I

knew she was

unnerved by the

blankness and nothingness

the fog that

not only swam

inside my head

but along my

face. We said

our goodbyes and

I walked home

proud of myself

for having remembered

her name.