encounters_with_strangers ovenbird While walking by the river I passed a man with a chain saw over his shoulder. “The city just put some new stairs in,” he said. “The edges were sharp so I made them friendlier.” He smiled at me and walked off whistling with his black lab following behind. I turned to see the new wooden stairs, every corner hacked off, and a pile of sawdust on the ground. 260110 ... raze seventeen years ago, almost to the day, i shook the hand of a man who seemed sure we'd met before. i could see it in his smile. this was after the four-headed beast of a gig i got roped into was winding down. hair still wet with sweat. tie tight around my neck. the music they pumped into the place between the bands was somehow louder than the noise we made onstage. it rendered my fugitive suitor mute. he was young enough to be someone i went to school with. but i remember everyone i've ever known. and he wasn't on that list. "i'm sorry," i said. "i can't hear a thing you're saying." "that's okay," he said. i only got that much because i was able to read his lips. all this time later, i can still see his face. i'll never stop wondering who he was or what he meant to tell me. however mundane it might have been, it clearly meant something to him. 260111 what's it to you? who go blather from