Musings From True and False Lives

Five

Five years since you were truly my friend,

The person I went to whenever I was sad and needed someone to talk to,

When you and I danced the line between friend and something more,

Yet our memories remain five years in the past.

Five miles distance between your house and mine,

And yet we never traveled that space to get to each other,

Never showed up at each other's houses with flowers and a brush of the lips,

But we stayed five miles apart.

Five paces to stand in front of you,

Our hands side-by-side, longing to be entwined,

Twin smiles upon both our faces of utter delight and young love,

But we kept our distance, five paces from each other.

Five minutes of your time to talk to you,

To tell you about the test I had to take after lunch that I thought I might fail

For you to talk about your friends I didn't like but was friendly with

But five minutes spent agonizing over what to say.

Five seconds to tell you how I feel,

To utter words that I've never said to anyone but my own family,

To tell you "I love you" and hope you say it back,

But those five seconds remain empty, the words unsaid.

Five years apart,

Five miles away,

Five paces of distance,

Five minutes of time,

Five seconds of words.

Always apart.

There's only five miles between us, but we've five years apart.