the noses of strangers are stranger than strangers
in the abstract — in the concrete they make indentations
when it’s still unset, but then it hardens and the noses break
on contact with the concrete. the eyes are separated
by the bridge, and the nostrils pulsate with unconscious breath

the noses of friends are strange too, but not so strange
because they are missed,  an abstract notion of identity
imperceptible in the seeing until they are so seen
they are completely invisible — like love

another nose, another person, strange, familiar
the distance between the eyes warps and distorts
in the seeing — in the unseeing — in the wondering
who is this person? what do they know?