Doubt I'll ever find out.  This was loosely based on a true incident some years ago when I was on a bus and spotted someone who I'd been friends with and my daughter was good friends with her daughter. One day she disappeared and I didn't have a forwarding address.  By the time I jumped off the bus and walked back to where I'd seen her, she'd gone again.  In hindsight, I'm glad we did't reconnect.  Sometimes lives touch for a while and then run their course.  You can't go back, only forward.  My life was different and as was hers (she had another child with her).

Thanks very much David.

Retracing Steps
A face in the crowd
familiar yet unknown,
Is it her
or another?

She draws out shadows
broken in time,
but there's only one way
to find out.

I leap off the bus,
chase after her
but she's gone,
disappeared down
a side street once more.

Catching my breath,
I sit on a bench,
mental photographs
flicking through my head.

Too many years 
swept along life's river,
skin, battle-weary
age seeping through bones.

There's no travelling backwards,
time's currents 
only flow in one direction
but I never forget
experiences shared,
laughter, tears
childhood memories
building foundations.

There are reasons,
but I don't know the code.
Was it her
or longing playing with my head?