I'm Glad We Met

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I wish we hadn't met

Or that years from now, in a coffee shop in some nameless city

while the rain pours down, and the ugly yellow of the taxis throws its stain across the windows

we would bump elbows in the small, coccooned space

where people like us talk in hushed voices over the whir of the espresso machine

and ruin their eyes trying to read by the dim lighting, hunched over in armchairs that swallow them whole

I wish we hadn't met

So that I could be free to venture out, and not constantly look back to search for tear tracks on your cheeks

Instead, I could dance up and down sidewalks 

and throw glances at men who throw glances back

and lie with them in beds too comfortable to afford while the meaning of love is defined by its making rather than its maker

I wish we hadn't met

because honestly, I'm too much for you

My spirit is free, and I'm selfish -God, I'm so selfish

I never could resist a handsome face

I wish we hadn't met

because not all men are perfect, and if I don't experience imperfection, then I won't be ready for the world

They can't all be like you

They can't be humble, and sweet, and gentlemanly, and kind

and they can't all love me the way that you do

So you see, I wish we hadn't met

We experienced love at far too early an age, and now we won't know what to do when the world tries to take that away from us

We're going to college, handsome

different colleges, in different states, with different people welcoming us home

I want it to work -God, do I want it to work

but can it?

I wish we hadn't met

I wish we'd met later

But we didn't, and we wouldn't have

so let's not kid ourselves, because it only makes it harder

Your sobs shake your frame, and your tears stain my shirt

My arms hold you close, and my lips steal your breath

and even though it's bound to hurt

I'm glad we met

 

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