Unknown

One day, a strange man rode in,  

with shadows stretched long in the dust.  

Eyes sharp, pulse quick, a quiet thrill—  

a stranger set loose on the hunt for a rush.  

She saw him, and I felt the shift,  

a pull that no words could quell.  

In that silent beat, something broke,  

a thread gone slack, untethered, fell.  

It wasn’t love, nor longing deep,  

but something raw, a hollow need,  

a taste for the unknown, the strange,  

a hunger—craving thrill, not peace.  

And there, beneath that sun-stained sky,  

I watched her slip beyond my reach,  

to chase a glimmered, fleeting high  

that I could never hope to keep.  

So she followed him, and I let her go,  

watched the dust settle down, alone.  

For in her eyes, I was just a shore—  

solid, safe, but not unknown.