Introduction:
This poem is a collaboration between Regolith and The stranger.
(Two poets, two strangers, one crossing of souls.
The train moves — through silence, through remembering,
and somewhere between breath and reflection,
Their words find each other.
What follows is not a regular dialogue,
but a quiet recognition between shadows.)
The Poem:
It’s getting overwhelming,
The mask I’ve been wearing,
And the smile I’ve had to forge.
To fit in within their forms,
And to abide by their norms.
To bare my chest, unguarded,
Receiving their arrows of shame.
I had to lose myself,
And live just for their sake.
I am leaving this damn land,
And traveling while I can.
On the next train I am boarding,
Not caring where it takes me.
For the hell ahead of me,
Is sweeter than the heaven I live in.
On the train, I hear someone
talking animatedly on the phone
A woman kisses her partner,
and another sits alone
I love the train on days like this
Invisible in the crowd
Just a faceless shadow
They can’t see what I hide
Head stays down, eyes unmet
My mind is dancing to a rhythm
My headphones play for me alone
Something stings inside
Why won’t these tears leave me alone?
I blink away my sadness
and see a shadow standing close
I’d never ridden a train before,
Never truly left the crate.
I was there amidst the noise
Of People who don’t see me,
Nor feel what’s cooking inside of me
To them, I am but another passing shadow,
An insignificant figure,
A ghost not haunting, but rather is haunted.
When all of a sudden, my gaze
Gets fixed on another shadow.
Her eyes down, her existence unknown
The moment she raised her head,
Her eyes roared, a loud, silent shout.
Nobody seems to have heard it,
Yet it rang music in my ears.
My feet moved towards her,
Tiptoeing not to break the spell.
I feel his presence before I see him
I hear his heartbeat through his chest
His eyes like silent beacons
What are they trying to forget?
What is it that he hides from
Why does his shape slow the air
The world moves in slow motion
As if just the two of us are here.
He carries weight, I feel it
but his shoulders still stand strong
Are we but kindred spirits
Why does this stranger feel like home?
I return to the moment as the carriage fills again
His shape dissolves from sight
yet a trace of him remains,
My feet froze mid-step,
As a subtle click emerged.
Our eyes had just acknowledged,
What really was the case.
Why do we see each other,
While to others, we remain unknown.
Her face felt oddly familiar—
I am sure I’ve known her all along.
Whether in this life or another,
What matters is the closeness now.
She’s burdened by troubles,
But she had dropped them all.
Her sole concern now is making
My troubles leave me alone.
What a selfless soul she carries—
To her, others’ issues matter more.
I know that this brings her peace,
Yet she must let me share the weight.
I wish I could tell her plainly:
Your troubles matter too.
And deep within, I know
Her spirit heard me loud and clear.
A smile bloomed across her lips,
On that precious face of hers.
Then the crowd swept between us,
veiling the spark our souls had shared.
It was the last I saw of her,
But my burdens have been eased.
I’m stepping off this train,
My purpose has been reclaimed.
In peace, I’ll live again—
And I wish for her the same.
A heaviness now leaves me,
something inside did shift.
Was I in the presence of an angel,
or some divine but mortal gift?
A smile moves warmly through me,
one that I forgot I owned.
We do not need to speak,
or know each other’s world.
This is a pull of starlight,
a quiet fire in my chest,
its light holds the empty spaces
Our minds did once forget.
The train slows at his stop now.
He walks away with renewed light
His head a little higher
I watch him walk back to his life
as the train inches away.
The world carries on moving,
but something in me remains,
pulled by the weight of starlit souls,
quiet, luminous, and unclaimed.
©Regolith
©The Stranger
*Writing is where my heart has chosen to stay. If these letters have kept you company, you’re welcome to help keep the ink flowing — one quiet coffee at a time.
 | A guest post by
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I really enjoyed this! I love the idea of strangers passing in the night yet holding a moment so deeply.
This was like watching two lanterns recognize each other in the dark. There’s such tenderness in how these voices never try to claim or explain the moment only to notice it, to let it pass through and leave both souls lighter. The train becomes more than a setting... it’s a threshold, a moving in-between where strangers are allowed to be seen without being known. What I love most is the restraint. Nothing is forced. Nothing is resolved. And yet something real shifts for both of them, and for the reader too. There is a quiet kind of magic here. Thank you both for trusting it, and for sharing the space where your words met. 🖤🖤🖤