By chance we met, just once that year,
when he walked by me at dawn.
I met his glance, he flashed a smile,
But when I looked up, he was gone
In a café, our eyes met again,
Two years after that day.
I meant to speak, but fear held tight,
And he quietly walked away.
Five years later, on a crowded boat,
He sat one seat from me.
I tried to talk, but the words got lost,
And vanished into the sea.
Between a bookstore’s quiet shelves,
Our paths would cross once more.
He waved, I froze, and just like that,
He slipped right out the door.
Ten years later, in the evening light,
I saw him across the square.
His eyes were kind, and his smile was soft,
And a part of me hoped he’d care.
What if I had spoken up back then,
When we first met that day?
Would fate have given love a chance,
Or swept it all away?
I collapse the thoughts onto myself,
fragments of a dying star.
Even when he was unbearably close,
He was still immeasurably far.
So now I sit with my memories,
Of the boy who passed me by,
And wonder if he ever thinks of me,
With the same unanswered sigh.