These Strangers

These Strangers, in a foreign World,
Protection asked of me —
Befriend them, lest Yourself in Heaven
Be found a Refugee —

There I was in the midst of thousands, and yet a perfect stranger;
without home and without friends, in the midst of thousands of my own brethren —
children of a common Father,
and yet I dared not to unfold to any one of them my sad condition.
I was afraid to speak to any one for fear of speaking to the wrong one,
and thereby falling into the hands of money-loving kidnappers,
whose business it was to lie in wait for the panting fugitive,
as the ferocious beasts of the forest lie in wait for their prey.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out
 [ ... ]

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, fluid, 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 give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass,
  you take of my beard, breast, hands, in return,
I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you when I sit alone
  or wake at night alone,
I am to wait, I do not doubt I am to meet you again,
I am to see to it that I do not lose you.