Maybe Strangers

A thicket of clouds veil the city
with a baleful seal.
On an indistinct street stands a lonesome lady
with an unreadable sign.
A man approaches her,
(each faintly illuminated by a winding string
of side-street orbs woven in the mist)
without the least symptom of interest,
and reaches into the pocket of an old coat
he happens to be wearing.
He hands the lady a gift
and she accepts, calm as the wind
that breathes through her hair.
In her blurry mirror
the man catches a glimpse of himself, adjusts his hat,
and then returns to her;
She looks away
with a shadowy sneer,
and he proceeds through the desolate fog of the city.