today i met a new person
(to me) while dragging
garbage out to the road
he was carrying a wide
box of recycling and set
it down when i asked him
if he was the new neighbor
and we talked long and wide
putting each other into our
phones and talked some more
when we met with our second
loads and the last thing 
i said: i'm glad you are you
and not someone else and he
said he was glad about that
   too

it's the calm
after so much
spent together
where together
and apart means
much the same
that i love —
drifting slowly
back to each
slightly changed
familiarity