She held him, his chin quiescent against her shoulder,
He felt the pain in his heart dampen into a smoulder.
His breathing was heavy, eyes unfocussed, hair a disarray,
A lot he heaved, yet did not know what to say.
Their old classrooms had made home for ballads, woeful yet,
Vows littered their growing childish ages, falling for those they met,
Before judging, giving away their hearts, unbeknown to their soul,
Only broken later, like embers of burnt charcoal.
Tears glinted in her eyes, for her true love had always been here,
She did not see, for he sang no ballad, nor followed her all year.
Along in a half lived dream, a false sense of paradise,
She had beguiled, attuned and fooled herself to suffice,
And he, bound by duty and heart on his sleeve, in search of a purpose,
Hunting, being hunted, only silent scars left on the surface.
He’d never told her, whenever they would meet,
The love he’d hidden in every missed heartbeat.
They could not stay, neither dwell on their dreams,
Their love buried in between past seams,
And must he go, braving all odds with his might,
Along an army, for someone else’s fight.
He kissed his childhood friend and smiled,
Wishing for a return and a blessed life with her aside.
Turning to leave, she beckoned, arms outstretched,
A knot tight in her chest, yet she confessed,
“I love you. I’m so sorry I am so late”,
But choices were often left to fate.
Kissing her forehead, he felt the sorrow in her face,
“Nay” he said, “we had a lifetime’s love in this moment’s embrace.”