Her eyes lingered on mine for just
A little too long. Her nervous laugh
Is too familiar: it is as comfortable as
Those shoes in which she cannot
Walk straight.

She made herself vulnerable to me,
But then all too quickly she retreated
Behind nervous glances and
Fixed half smiles, behind an
Impractical almost cardigan, behind
Her eyes that almost gave her away.

Once you have reached this point,
It is not acceptable to want to be
Elsewhere. I want to tell her that
She does not have to stay, but
I could not find the way out
Until it was too late.

Too many people confuse
Their journeys with their destinations,
Their lives with checklists that are
Handed to everyone at birth.
The more years I have lived,
The fewer boxes I have felt
The need to tick.

I want to share this with her,
To pass on this secret knowledge to
One who is yet to learn, and yet I know
That I would be trying to replace
One set of expectations with another.

No one can open our eyes and hearts
For us: it is a skill we need
To learn, a wisdom we must acquire
Through our own experiences,
A payoff hard won through
The making of our own mistakes.

As she walked away, eyes down,
I silently wished her a quicker route
To comfort than I found.

08/06/2016

Posted on 09/15/2016
Copyright © 2024 Richard Vince