Just Beyond

by M. Joseph Boehler

her beauty shines outward, illuminating gray skies.

as this world spins through the cosmos,

two beating hearts within their chests,

the others' pulse;

just a reach away.

fingers brush, then slip.

and away they fly, by and by.

i stood at the edge of something familiar,

rain-slick pavement mirroring a sky that had just wept.

you burst through the drizzle, laughter spilling ahead,

light reflected the colors of you,

fabric softened by the rain,

well worn boots gliding over puddles.

hair falling back like a curtain drawn aside,

eyes bright enough to outshine the sudden sun;

my breath caught,

tongue-tied, i held the door;

it sighed beneath my hand.

you smiled, gaze lingering,

before the crowd swallowed us whole.

we were unknown to the other,

yet that instant stayed;

reflected into a dream of what might have been.

that memory still illuminates me on rainy days.

perhaps, just perhaps, you felt the same.