Why I talk to strangers

i met someone today
and in the course of conversation
told her about you
and your love of people
and what I learned
and how it changed me

and she said:
that sounds good and all
but i don’t see the point
in connecting with someone
i will never see again.

and so i thought for a moment
and i said
when you look at a flower
do you fret
that your examination is a waste of time
because you will never see that flower again?

and in any case
the things you see in that flower
the details you notice in its petals, its leaves, its shape, its hue
you will surely see in other flowers
and to look at one is in some sense to look at them all
and teaches you to better see
each future flower.

returning to people
all you see in a stranger
you will surely see again in countless others –
strangers, friends, and loved ones –
and learning about a stranger
is in fact learning about humanity,
each individual a view of the whole
and so infinitely more resplendent
if you know that secret.

but it goes deeper
because unlike with flowers,
here you are that type of thing
and you can learn about yourself
in a subway chat with a stranger
whose name you do not know
and whose path you do not share.
you may see yourself reflected in their eyes,
see a life you might have lived,
or a joy you have forgotten,
or a struggle you have not known but will soon.
humans are not so different
and i see now that each gives a view of me
and that, i said,
is why i talk to strangers.

our conversation ran its course
and we went our separate ways
drifting back to our separate lives
and i may well never see her again
but that, of course, isn’t the point
and i am glowing regardless
with the feeling
of having caught
a glimpse of humanity