Familiar, Somehow

You walked in like the room was yours

No hello worth remembering

Half a smile, a careless word

Like being nice was tiring

And I thought, okay, that’s you

Another face I’ll learn to ignore

But then you tilted your head that way

And I’ve seen that look before

Not the attitude

Not the tone

Not the way you make me want to leave you alone

Something underneath

Something I can’t name

You’re nothing like him

So why does it feel the same?

Why do you feel familiar somehow?

You’re all sharp edges, he’s softer somehow

You say one thing and I hear something else

A quieter voice from somebody else

You make me roll my eyes

He makes me want to stay

So why does something in you

Keep pointing me his way?

You’re not like him

I know you’re not

So why do you remind me

Of someone you’re not?

Maybe it’s the pause before you speak

The way your eyes move when you’re thinking

Maybe I’m inventing patterns now

Connecting dots that aren’t connecting

And are you rude because of what I am?

Or is this just your personality?

Should I take it personally?

Or congratulate you on consistency?

Still, every now and then you do

Some tiny thing you don’t explain

And for half a second there he is

Then you go and ruin it again

Not the attitude

Definitely not

You’ve got a special talent for ruining the thought

But something underneath

Keeps pulling at my brain

You’re nothing like him

So why does it feel the same?

Why do you feel familiar somehow?

You’re all sharp edges, he’s softer somehow

You say one thing and I hear something else

A quieter voice from somebody else

You make me roll my eyes

He makes me want to stay

So why does something in you

Keep pointing me his way?

You’re not like him

I know you’re not

So why do you remind me

Of someone you’re not?

Maybe resemblance isn’t something you see

Maybe it’s rhythm

Maybe it’s timing

A little unconscious symmetry

A gesture

A silence

A look you don’t know that you make

And maybe I’m wrong

Maybe tomorrow

I’ll wonder what I saw in the first place

…Then you do it again.

Seriously?

Why do you feel familiar somehow?

Still can’t explain it, don’t want to right now

You’re getting on my nerves

And confusing them too

Because something I already know

Keeps showing up in you

You’re not as warm

You’re not as kind

You’re definitely harder to like

But somewhere beneath

Whatever you’ve got

You keep reminding me

Of someone you’re not

I don’t know you

I know that much

But somehow…

I recognize the touch

Not yours

Not yet

Just something familiar

I can’t forget.