It was a perfect moment: the bridge,
The kiss under the stars, the wide eyed
Enraptured girl. It was so perfect
That I did not notice what was wrong
Or that I longed to be somewhere else.

We stretched that moment into
A night, into a day, into a week
Until it tore, the strain of linking
Two distant people proving too great.

It was a mistake, but perhaps one
I needed to make to avoid a
Much larger one. What was I kept
From destroying by that minor indiscretion?

*
Rose petals like a wilderness fall, almost
Weightless, to the ground like so many
Words I knew were ridiculous
But nevertheless meant wholeheartedly.

Occasionally I forget the absurdity of
That previous version of me, and the belief
In love as an ordeal by patience
And self sacrifice. Perhaps it is
Wishful thinking that suggests I could
Have been right about her after all;
We shall never know.

*
Of all the songs I took with me,
There was one I brought back:
I used it to make sure I never forgot
What I did, and how it made her feel.

Had there been more shadows on the Sun,
Would it have gone out, denying
Its light and life to even more eyes?

As the midnight Sun stole my sleep,
I knew I had taken the right route home;
Only now do I know where I was heading.

08/11/2013

Posted on 09/22/2013
Copyright © 2024 Richard Vince