People Watching

I appreciate the silence of strangers.
They the company of I,
Whether this status is realized or not.
Mostly I dwell unnoticed,
Eyes down
Ears open
Participating in their conversation though my mouth is closed.
Sometimes they give me a glance,
Then another,
Curious for the moment as to why
I am alone.
The moment passes,
Quicker than a snap, and I return to my place,
A millefleur.

They don't know,
But I am listening.
My gaze cast elsewhere,
An inquisitive expression stretched across my face,
Pen to paper,
They have already forgotten me.

Perhaps they wish to leave me to my work,
I must seem busy,
Scribbling away.
Only when an aspect of my existence shocks,
Horrifies,
Or Calls to them for correction or praise,
Am I acknowledged

A polite exchange,
A smile,
Maybe even a few words,
They melt back into themselves.
Their focus has returned to
Whatever
They don't notice the attention I pay them,
For their time is so previously invested in
Whatever.

My peripherals are sharper than theirs.
While they perch oblivious,
Happy hens clucking gossip,
Other seemingly meaningless conversation,
If you can so call it.

I take in all the details.

I learn more about them than I would have if I had directly sought the information.

Sometimes,
Rarely,
One will catch on.
One will observe me as I do others.

The watcher,
Watched.

I leave,
As if to rob them from the knowledge of myself.

I wish not
For them to know me as
I know them.

For if one other,
Another observer,
Spyglass embed,
Peering into the mind itself,
What images would reflect in the clear pane of conscious glass?

None I would be pleased with, without doubt.

Let them think I in any way
Other than that.
The masquerade we all strive to preserve melts as the attentive mind fades.
Lax,
Revealed is the truth
Sometimes uglier
Sometimes all the more enticing
Often almost opposite to the glittery facade.

Save me the glitter.
Spare me the glitz.

Don't even try to hide,
For when you least expect,
When suddenly it seems safe,
When you think no one is watching,
I am.

Remember that time?

No,
You don't.
I do,
You won't.
I'm not going to refresh your memory.

It's better this way,
For both of us.

I will remain silent,
You will continue on.
I will watch,
You will remain unaware.
I will document your every move,
You will be oblivious.
I will revel in this act,
You will continue to act.
I will wait patiently,
You will lower your walls.
I will infiltrate as always,
You will give me what I seek.
I will take it, extravagantly so,
You will never ever know.

I have it,
The map of you,
The documentary
Of all your truths,
The fragment of yourself
That you don't even know exists.

High I hold it all.
Then I walk away.