He’s finally coming to visit

Everyone else seems cheerful

I feel worried, more than anything

After all, it has been two years 

The day, finally here

We meet

We smile

We shake hands like old times

But something is different

He heads off with the others

We don’t speak again

Our budding friendship

A thing of the past

We had missed too much

Too much of each other’s lives

He had moved on

I had not

I cried for the first time that night

Not out of nostalgia

But for what could have been

And what could never be again

It seemed comforting 

To wrap myself in that of the old times

Our games

Our thoughts

But to no avail

The emotional pain would not subside

Eventually, I realized

Nostalgia is as painful as change

The more focus I put upon my memories

The more difficult it would be for me to let go

To let go my platonic version of him from days past

I smiled one last time in his memory

Knowing I was blessed to have known him at all

After all

Nothing gold can stay