Humans and People

people aren't people when you pass them on the street
they are measured
by your perceptions
are they social constriction?
are they your audience?
are they in the way?
are they making you uncomfortable?
are they a reflection
of what you are feeling?
of loneliness or pain?
do they remind you of something, or someone else?
because most people
are not people
to you

when they are lost
a human loss
casualties
the numbers grow larger
and if you try to imagine
but you can't
not then, of all times
that every human
is a person

you are a person
I am a person
but if I see you on the street, you may not be
to me
and I
to you

everyone is a person
humanity
an entity
and every person an entity as well, as complex
each one as the last
recognizable only to some
a terrible few

I can not even
now
ask that you consider
every human
a person
those you see, those you hear
hear of
I have tried it
there is a point where it is no longer real
where a person is not a person
yet again
and humanity returns to a more mediocre
backround
white noise
rainbow noise