Look into my eyes

Of all the people I could bump into.
It was you.
On your birthday.
After I have come from a long routine
and you, on a short mission trip.
We were supposed to eat alone
But we found each other
Oh, of all places, in a huge mall,
just in time
God crossed our paths.

It could have been another person
I could have missed you by seconds
Or a few meters,
but we just had to walk side by side each other
until we noticed we are familiar.

Maybe life is as such.
Aimless walking in a huge space
Always thinking about going from point A to B and nowhere else
Until we stop and pause and look around
and find that the people we wanted to really spend time with
are right by our side, right now.

As you make an attempt to look into my eyes
over burgers and French fries
I tell you the short parcel of my life
It was awkward, and you by all means encouraged it.
I was praying for learning to be vulnerable the day before
And here you are, demanding it and even saying you get hurt
when people don't share to you.

And so I had to. We both need to learn. To talk.
As I let you take a peek through a hole in my wall,
My voice was trembling, my eyes were watery
and my lips were quivering. I could not stand it.
I am not used to it.
But you listened. And you spoke.

And what you said struck me perfectly. Every word.
That moment, even as you struggle to look at me,
I respected you, and it made sense why we were pulled in one place.
We are both there to speak. Both there to listen
And the taxi ride, with your second voice, my newfound easiness with you
I thank heavens for a person like you

You are so not like me.
You don't have walls, you don't have hiding mechanisms
You were out in the open and nobody noticed
You felt unappreciated, and rightly so.
Just spending an unexpected lunch with you today
made me want some more