The Touching Of Lives (Poetry)

A matter of years
through sharing of walls
each communal door
worn echoing stairs
two flats to a floor

Observing routine
and habit’s display
lives passing en route
a nod or a wave
to neighbourliness

Then there comes a day
when someone moves out
the balance upset
uneasiness clouds
like the forecast’s wet

The odd pang of loss
unsettles the place
the absence of one
familiar face
hard to get used to

Yet those who are left
can’t claim they knew well
the ones who’ve escaped
their outgrown brick cell
lives touch and move on