"The Cold Side"
By Luke Labern
Though years had passed and so had we
We met again, as if by chance;
And time, it seems, had blinded me
For we exchanged the lovers’ glance.
I’d tried to blur such memories:
For now our palpitations merged
And dreams of mine flashed by degrees —
The very ones I’d once submerged.
Is there a reason why I suppress
A chance reconciliation?
The greatest flaw I could confess:
This tragedy is my creation.
I lost her once — so too myself —
And though our hands meet once again
She cannot dare to risk her health
— And parted we remain.
We met again, as if by chance;
And time, it seems, had blinded me
For we exchanged the lovers’ glance.
I’d tried to blur such memories:
For now our palpitations merged
And dreams of mine flashed by degrees —
The very ones I’d once submerged.
Is there a reason why I suppress
A chance reconciliation?
The greatest flaw I could confess:
This tragedy is my creation.
I lost her once — so too myself —
And though our hands meet once again
She cannot dare to risk her health
— And parted we remain.
A Poem,
Published 10 January 2012
Published 10 January 2012