We met on a sunny afternoon
When the leaves turned yellow.
The sun shone through you,
A pretty halo.
I blinked, stuttered.
At a loss for words.
It was a moment,
Perhaps seconds.
But my mind ran through years.
Every sentence.
Each word.
That I had to hear.
It wasn’t easy,
Growing up.
You put up with a lot,
All the insanity.
Stood by me through the years.
I yelled, I fought,
Yet you smiled through the inanity.
I waited as we argued,
In fear.
I waited,
In frustration,
for you to disappear.
I watched you.
Your shell crumbled.
Helplessness drowned you.
As I tried to put you back together.
We tumbled.
Your face remained the same,
The smile as warm as ever.
I envied your eyes,
They shone as bright as ever.
The days grew bleaker,
We lost time.
Our moments were numbered.
We stood still.
Our hands grasped together,
Souls entwined.
Years passed.
You were never one for emotions,
Words were never your “thing”.
You despised tears,
Hated hugs,
We never talked about feelings.
Yet you heard me,
Day or night.
The distance never bothered you.
Everyone else became contacts.
You kept pushing through.
I wish I could turn back time.
Some moments are worth living more than once.
The laughter echoed,
Even as the voices faded.
Soon I couldn’t recall
What we were laughing for.
Yet I knew it was worth living more than once.
You always shook your head,
Amused.
I clicked pictures furiously.
Live the moment you said.
“I am collecting memories!”, I cried.
Pictures were all that remained.
I was upset.
Your memory was far better than mine.
I wish I had lived the moment.
But time marched, unchanged.
All I recalled was getting back home by nine.
Parts by parts our lives unfolded.
Some unexpected,
Some just reality.
Nothing went as planned.
We were messy abstracts,
The core of our sanity.
We kept running,
Breathless,
More lost than ever.
We kept swimming,
Gasping,
Our souls anchored together.
The days pass by,
I keep looking back.
You just call me silly.
I stand still,
Drowning.
My mind drifting.
You stand surrounded by your halo.
The ever-present smirk etched on your face.
I keep thinking,
We should have kept running.
