Often, encounters with strangers are just small bright spots in a day. A shared smile on the subway, a compliment, a quick chat. Then there are the other encounters—the ones that land differently. A stranger says something that lingers. They challenge us, they may invite us to see ourselves more clearly, they might haunt us. The Story: Olivia I took a seat across from Olivia on a train in south London. When I commented on her beautiful long hair she whispered to me that it wa

Portrait of Walt Whitman Passing Stranger Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you, You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me as of a dream,) I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you, All is recall’d as we flit by each other, affectionate, chaste, matured, You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a girl with me, I ate with you and slept with you, your body has become not yours only nor left my body mine only, You