Strangers at 2:17

The clock above the counter said 2:17,

I was wearing the face that nobody had seen.

Cold coffee, wet sleeves,

nowhere to go, Just me and the thoughts I would never let

show. Then you took

the seat by the window

side,

With a tired little smile and nowhere to hide.

You asked if the chair was taken

by someone,

I said,

“Only the ghosts of the things I’ve become.”

You laughed like you’d been crying not long ago,

I knew that expression,

though I didn’t know you.

You asked me what brings me out this late,

I said, “I needed somewhere that didn’t know my name.”

You said that sounded like a lonely place to be,

I said, “It’s better than being who they expect me to be.”

Then we sat there talking like we’d known for years,

Two strangers trading secrets over coffee and tears.

You don’t know my friends.

You don’t know my past.

So why does this conversation feel like it could last?

Maybe it’s easier to tell the truth

When there’s nothing to lose.

It’s 2:17, and the world is asleep,

You’re telling me things that you promised to keep.

I don’t know your story,

you don’t know mine,

But somehow your silence understands mine.

When the morning comes,

we’ll go our own ways,

Become two strangers in the light of day.

But somewhere between the truth and the night,

You made this lonely world feel right.

I told you I’m scared I’ll wake up one day,

And realize I lived my whole life the safe way.

You said, “Then don’t wait till the feeling is gone.

You don’t need to be ready

to start moving on.”

I told you there’s a dream I buried last year,

I was so afraid that I’d fail if I tried.

You said, “What if you fail?

At least you will know You were brave enough

to give it a go.”

Maybe we’ll never meet again,

Maybe this is where the story ends.

But I’ll remember what you said to me,

Two strangers talking like we were finally free.

No promises made, no numbers exchanged,

Just two tired hearts leaving slightly changed.

It’s 2:17, and the world is asleep,

We shared all the things that we buried too deep.

I don’t know your story,

you don’t know mine,

But somehow your silence understood mine.

When the morning comes,

we’ll go our own ways,

Become two strangers in the light of day.

But somewhere between the truth and the night,

You made this lonely world feel right.

The clock above the counter said

2:17. Funny

how a stranger can change everything.

And somewhere out there,

under another

midnight sky, Two strangers remember that night.