Dear Stranger

Dear Stranger, you are my best friend
You hear my voice with the ear you lend.
I shed old words regurgitated a thousand times -
A rehearsed account of my strife, a real-life pantomime.
 
On your objective shoulders you bear my weight
Unquestioningly supporting a world of emotions for my sake.
You nod in understanding and silently reassure
That life is an ocean so deep and profound and raw.
 
An undiscovered territory on which new soil bears potential
For a forest of thoughts cultivated by inexperienced comprehension.
Comprehension of individual emotions represented by seasonally affected leaves.
Each one reflecting the input of life and the output of me.
 
A face of comfort true only in anonymous empathy,
As I wash my hands of stains of guilt and marks of fallacy.
Hands that painted pictures of a life more dramatic than lived,
An artistic impression of how I expected my heart to be perceived.
 
I thank you with honesty yet selfish gratitude,
Ending my torrent of analysis accompanied by an emotional interlude.
Your ear finely tuned to my melody of confusion and restraint,
A baritone vocal singing a tale of love's permanent taint.
 
Dear Stranger I pledge you my soul
For you have seen it's worth and heard it's call.
In lending your ear and absorbing my tears
I will continue to love without caution and fear