The world tilted, and there he was
Eyes flickering, dancing
a smile waiting to break
like a secret hanging just out of reach

Time folded in on itself
The air thick and still
so silent even the dust held its breath
The room a soft blur
muffled and distant
like I was underwater
All I saw was him

His hurt reached out
raw, trembling
a fragile thread pulling toward mine
We were strangers only on the surface
Beneath, something cracked open
silent wounds speaking in shadow

Inside me, a magnet pulled
urgent, wild, irrational
A voice that said
you must be near him

His voice was low and warm
a slow rhythm pulling me under
the kind of sound you hold onto
a beacon guiding you home

That night
my mind stole a picture of him
vivid, haunting
bathed in streetlamp gold

We held our gaze too long
not trapped
but willing captives
to a silence that screamed
everything words never dared

Something ancient woke in me
not gentle
but aching
It knew the absence before him
and mourned the loss
of any future without him

Still my soul leaned in
like it had done
in all our lives
before this one

In the balance twixt the can and can't,
Heartache in the shall or shan't
Dispute then in the do or don't,
Right or wrong in will or won't?
The measure of an in or out
Or distancing from what you flout?
To seep your days in earnest flight
Perhaps you should, perhaps you might?
Hovering betwixt, between,
Glimpsing some but seldom seen?
This heart which longs to feel it all,
Remote, alas, in vague recall!

M@Foxglove.Taranaki.NZ