In A Single Moment

In A Single Moment

Upon a random plain, within a random time,
two sets of eyes meet, but for a moment,
a single heartbeat thrumming...
What does this stranger's eyes behold,
in gazing upon another soul?
Is it beauty, oh so tempting,
that beckons the quickening heart
into lustful quest?
Or do those mortal eyes behold
the flaws of human living?
Do they see dark circles
of tired eyes longing for reprieve?
Do they see the wrinkles,
proof of a long lived life?

And with the eyes partaking
these sights unto its own,
how will it react in kind,
to what it has come to behold?
Will it look on with empathy,
and share in another's plight?
Will it turn away quickly,
with abject disgust written
plainly across it's face?
Or will it pretend not to see at all,
under the guise of apathy's grace?

In a single moment judgment is rendered,
upon the worth of the other soul,
to stand as equals or to condescend,
to acknowledge or to turn away,
to reach out or to do nothing at all.

What will a stranger's eyes behold,
in the moment when two sets of eyes meet?
In a single moment's time alone,
the mood is set for what is yet to come.