gash

i ran across someone on the street, a gash cutting his forehead in half, nasty red. 

looking through the gash i saw... a man's desire to be loved, a family struggle, a place of sadness, unreasoned violence, the gap between us and them, the opposite of disappearance, strong stances, incomprehension and impotence...

he said: your partner should cuddle you and ask if you're alright, he said every dog had his day and there is more than one way to skin a cat, he said i can't take this any more, he said i'm better off without her, he said it's them or me... 

and then he shrugged and limped off, slowly, like a question mark.