We were lovers once

We were lovers once. Betrothed from birth, the water did not let me forget.

We embraced once, her arms were around my waist and my head was on her shoulder. Though I was but a child, her comfort brought me a peace that I did not understand.

Her words called to me and created a path from the darkness in which I was lost.

As I grew into a man our embrace grew apart. Outstretched arms and hands, fingertips only just clasped. As I moved deeper into myself and away from her, she looked first with rage and then sorrow at the man who stood in the shadow behind me.

He was not me. I wondered who I might be.

My lover said him or me. There would be no compromise, no understanding, only him or her.

I chose her. I chose him. I chose neither. I chose the one who never gave an ultimatum, the one whose heart reflects the meaning of her name.

But still I think of my lover. I know she longs for me as I long for her.

Her arms around my waist and my head on her shoulder, her gentle words of peace calming the raging seas within me.

But I will not return to my lover until he may come as well. I will not choose between him and her again. My lover cries, I hear the despair in her voice. She knows I cannot yet return. It is not yet safe in her arms as her hands are tied to another.

He who is jealous. He who refuses to let her out of his sight for even a moment lest she run away.

Oh, my lover, how will this end? Are the bonds even real? Is it all a trick? Shall I just move on?

Of course I won't, my lover. You’ll always be there in the shadows behind me. He is there too.

Perhaps you should meet each other?