Poetry: Breath

One more older piece that I wanted to put up for this new audience.


Breath
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You took my breath away…
Called to me as I passed distracted on the street.
You stopped me on a dime.
I recognized your voice in an instant.
And oh I knew those ice-blue eyes so well
When I turned and met them.
The feelings from across the years hit me in waves.
No longer a child,
With the grey in your ebony hair.
Older and therefore changed,
Yet ever the same.
Your left hand gleamed with the gold band,
And I could imagine being the one by your side
Held in those strong arms at night.
Your smile was still as warm
And your eyes twinkled with the same mischief.
I wondered if I succeeded in seeming cool
When inside I twisted and turned.
And I wonder if my smile seemed true,
When I broke inside with want and love for you,
With memories,
With what could have beens.
There was a time in which you could have been mine.
But we let each other go--
Our moment lost to the search for own lives.
And I’ve missed you,
The talent that flowed through your words,
And the way we came together in writing.
I adored you.
That never stopped.
The easy, sexy way you had about you,
The passion in your art,
The wit of your thoughts,
All entranced me.
But someone else will hold you tonight
And in seeing you again that kills me.
If I didn’t see any tenderness in you still,
If holding you as you hugged me hello wasn’t still electric,
My heart might not hurt so badly.
We can’t change the past.
And so we play at small talk.
We pretend that love died.
We pretend it doesn’t kill us to be reminded.
We pretend we’re happy the other moved on.
And as you walk away
I try to breathe again.