We are living different lives now:
Six years seems like no time
And forever all at once.

You have moved forward, while
I have created the optical illusion
Of going back: I have merely climbed
Out of the pit of despair in which
I languished when first we didn’t meet.

Perhaps I reached for you in
Desperation, hoping to find a hand
To pull me out of the bear trap
That was so cunningly disguised.

You were right to remain unmoved,
Impassive: I needed to rescue
Myself, and anyway I could have been
Anyone, even the pathetic stranger
That I actually was.

And now, when our paths briefly
Fail to quite cross again, we are
One another’s unwelcome reminder
Of what we have left behind that,
For different reasons, we need to forget.

As we curve gradually apart again,
I wish you release from the
Captivity of memory, and hope that
You are as happy in your new life
As I am in mine.

12/09/2021

Posted on 12/30/2021
Copyright © 2024 Richard Vince