It coalesced slowly.
We met each other in twos and threes,
On the way to a ball game,
Or sitting together in a class.
And we got to knowing each other
Over a shared dinner and a midnight drink,
A convenient lunch, an exchange of words,
And the shining bonds of friendship emerged.
It was a glorious autumn, windy and chill,
Alive with the possibilities of destiny and youth.
We grew philosophical and intimate.
Our world blossomed into a shared sense of art.
But every blossom shall wilt.
The balance began to slip away
Into the fragmentations of maturation.
Inevitability struck
In the form of star-crossed romance and
Unrequitedness. We splintered,
Slowly: one less seat at the table,
Three fewer voices of laughter and wit;
Until each was left stranded on respective islands,
Our bottled messages swept away in the tide.
What was tightly knit is now separate,
And chance encounters merit no more than a nod
In acknowledgement of shared memories.
Our hearts were rent,
And it shows in our faces,
Lined with the sorrow of possibilities.
When each holds a part of the others' souls,
How well can one fare incommunicate?
We were destiny!