I am excited to see this poem in Myths.

 

I saw you down the aisle

A row behind me and just

Past the middle of it

I noticed you because the two of you

Were leaned really far forward

So I think you saw me first

I’m pretty sure I hit someone

Or something with my elbow

Because when I noticed my arm later

It was puffy and sore

But all I could think about

Was finding you again

So when I left my seat

And grabbed you from yours

I didn’t care that intermission was nearly over

Or that your date,

Oh no, your husband!

Was waiting for you

All I knew was that I was

Suddenly desperate

And had to talk to you again

I don’t remember now

How we got to the street

Everything’s a blur

Until we reached the sunlight

And I could see up close

And feel with my own sweaty fingers

The face I’ve always loved

I cried so hard you tried to silence me

Though I wasn’t sad

Well, not only sad,

Also ecstatic and relieved

And your face!

Your face was still so welcoming

I couldn’t believe it

Then we talked and you told me of your life

And the gracious work you do

I had to ask because I didn’t know it

But what is your new last name

I suppose the joke behind it

Didn’t strike me as funny

No matter though

I just loved to see you laugh once more

But then your laugh became a song

And your voice was not your own

Instead I heard Roberta Flack singing

“Where is the Love?”

While you smiled and turned away

Setting out to silence the song

I’ll never enjoy again

I realized that turning around would be the admission

That I was now awake

With you again absent from me

And while I know I shouldn’t admit it to the world

At that grasping moment,

Just like now,

I couldn’t stop crying

© Gayle Force Press 2008

 

• Poetry