89 reads

Us

the walls of

my childhood room

were covered

with posters

of kittens

'wantin' to be loved'

bought alongside

dozens

of paperback novels

of romance

all nearly identical -

187 pages

of obstacles and

simmering passion

two pages

of resolution,

true love

perhaps

a chaste kiss -

balm for my

teenage soul

longing

to be loved

for as long

as I can

remember

memorizing

sonnets

drawing

hearts

notebooks

giving

literary names to

faceless

children

who

would have

my husband's

eyes,

that phantom

lover

who

would love

body

heart

and soul.

On the road

to You

so many

falls,

errors of

passionate

discord,

no,

lessons

of growth

to mold me

into

the someone

you could,

would,

love;

my knight

with

shining eyes

my prince

with

the charming smile,

life - God, fate -

made you

for me.

Even though

separation by:

an ocean;

divergent albeit allied countries;

distinct cultures;

unrelated languages;

enemy religions;

different races,

ethnicity

and upringing

made meeting

unlikely,

and loving

till death

do us part

a flight

of fancy,

when first

our eyes

met,

it was clear

we were

two halves

of the same

whole.

Though our path

was obstacle-strewn,

love bloomed,

grew

strengthened;

and they

shall become

one flesh,

yes,

but

so much more

are we two

so close

entwined

are we

such that

the poetry

of my

lovelorn

youth

lives

in us:

"where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep." (Pablo Neruda)