Strangers

I was on the train the other day and I saw a man with his head in his hands. It made me wonder what his story was. Maybe he had a wife who was in hospital, maybe he had just lost his job, or maybe he had just had too much to drink. It made me think about strangers, about people. We are all just extras in each other’s life, wandering through, going about our everyday business. We see the girl who is wearing too many bracelets and the boy who looks a little too thin. We see the woman selling the Big Issue on street corners and we know that she is just trying to earn a living. But we do not help. We have our own problems to worry about. Yet haven’t we always wanted people to strike up a conversation with us, to find out more about us, to make us open up to them? We laugh at the teenage girl pushing the pram, automatically assuming that she is a s**t and we loathe the dodgy men selling cannabis in dark alleyways. Yet we have all heard the saying “there’s more than meets the eye.” I think that we are all too scared to get caught in something even more complicated than our own lives.  The sad truth is, everyone has a story, but no-one wants to read it.

Reviews

[annabellee]

This is very true and I can totally relate to that. I also always wonder what's the story of the people i see on the subway.
great write :)

[Calissa Knox]

I really enjoyed reading this poem. It is very insightful, yet very artistic. It is very powerful - especially the ending. Reading this made me think differently about others, and the world around me. Beautifully written. Great job!

[Azure Montessa (Blue)]

True. We are all too absorbed in our own existence to even pay attention to or care about others. Thank you for sharing your lovely insights. :)

[ron]

This is very true Laura. But some of us want to read someone else's story. To help them, or just have an ear for them to speak into. But it's hard to know just how to let them know we are there if they need us to be. A great story and one more of us should read.

[hmarieee]

no one realizes how much just a smile could turn someones day around. people are to quick to judge. great write.
-hannahmarie xo

[WriterNamedZeke]

I love the format of the poem! How it's not a "conventional" poem. Great mini-story line though! I loved everything about it.

[KaliAnn]

Love the point you're getting at here. I like the formatting you used because I feel like if you broke it up into stanzas, it wouldn't be the same. I think you could add a bit more between the first and second sentence. I feel like it's too much of a jump. Maybe add some more details about what he looked like. Definitely add more detail through out the poem. Details could make this a lot stronger. Not that it's not strong already. I just think that this poem has a lot of potential and I really think you should keep working on it =) one last thing. You start out with saying "I" but then go into "we". Who's the "we"? Society? But yeah, nice poem =) keep it going girl

[Laura Harrison]

Thank you for your help :)

[bea]

wow, your poem just blew me away. honestly this is a great poem like wow. you should be a poet. i'm at a lose of words to describe how good this is. its utterly amazing. good, excellent job. you're a good poet, honestly. Bravo.

[Laura Harrison]

I'm not going to lie, this comment made me tear up. For the past 2 years I have been writing poems and never believed that I was good enough, so I joined writerscafe to get some feedback and the comments I have received have been wonderful. Thank you so much :)

[bea]

Your poetry is more then good and thank you for posting this. I enjoyed reading it you really are a great poet

[Aaron the Baron]

Wow this moved me. I think of all the books I've read that were so amazingly moving, and my hope that the people I know could experience the same stories in the way that moved me so. And to think of people in such a similar way, just makes me sad. All of those stories that will go unheard by most. This is spot on.

[Laura Harrison]

thank you, i'm glad it made you feel something :)