On April 12, 1997 a man that I did not know walked up to me in the parking lot of my office building and asked me if I was married. After I smiled and answered in the affirmative he handed me a slip of paper inscribed with the following words:
You -- Venus eclipsing the sun
So too your beauty eclipses
My reason
And I am pushed
To awkward action
Smile across my way
And reassure my soul
For your smile contains my hope
Your frown the night
That breaks it
Let me hold your gaze
Even if not your hand
So flower-filled fantasies
Will float me on a sea of dreams
As I sleep tonight
After eight years I still carry this poem with me everywhere I go. When I'm in a weird place, like I have been lately, I pull it out and it makes me smile. I see that day so clearly and even though the story that this man shared with me about the first time he saw me and how he eventually found my workplace sounds kind of scary and he sounded borderline stalker ... it is still the most romantic thing that I have ever experienced in my life. I never saw him again. I'm not sure if he's ever seen me again.
I think about it and I have to ask what is it that gives a person that kind of courage? I mean, this guy put himself out there and he just seemed fearless. Not arrogant or cocky, or even sure of himself. Just a man with a single thought. Perhaps he felt that if he approached me and I wasn't available that would still be better than not approaching me at all. How many of us are willing to take chances with our feelings like that? How many times have we missed out on something wonderful because we were too busy guarding our hearts? How do you get that kind of courage?
3/17/2006 - I pulled the poem out again today and for the first time since that day I kind of feel like I don't need it anymore. Weird.
