This Stranger

Somewhere in my thoughts
Twenty years away
I'll bump into you
On a crowded city sidewalk
You're looking for your daughter
Pull out a faded photo
Of me
Seventeen
Dirty t-shirt and faded jeans
Standing on a rock
Ready to fly
You told me I looked
Like a guy in this picture

You won't know my face
My voice is deeper now
But something in my eyes
Seems too familiar
Too much like something
You once saw in yourself

See in this stranger
The things you never saw
In my brother
I have your intelligence
Your strength
Your smile

As you walk away
Thinking
How lucky this stranger's
Father is
To have a son like me
You won't realize
That I am your son.