Thus I Knew You Poem by Rory Hudson

You stood out in a crowd -
Not by your features, which were ordinary,
Nor by your costume, which was plain,
But because you were ordinary and plain:
And thus I knew you.

You called to me in a voice
That was not rich or intricate in tone,
Not mellow nor beautiful -
But you simply called my name:
And thus I knew you.

We spoke of ordinary things,
Of cabbages, not of kings,
Of things not seen in palaces,
But known to those who cannot choose their life:
And thus I knew you.

For years we did not meet,
But wandered through the world in silence
In lives unknown and unsung,
Unheralded by any fanfare bold:
And thus I knew you.

Last night I saw you in a dream, again
Sitting as you had always sat
In unassuming pose among the throng
Of people pressing forward with their lives:
And thus I knew you.

You called to me in a voice
That I had known long ago
Faintly heard above the world’s white noise,
Now textured with the rustiness of time:
And thus I knew you.

Quietly we spoke of what had been -
Bookends with nothing in between -
And when I woke, you had moved on
To be another dreamer’s song:
And thus I knew you.