The Space Between

~ by ~
Carla Gagen

We were two stars,
burning bright,
but too far apart
to ever feel the warmth.
I watched you from a distance,
your light like the moon
constant, steady,
yet always just beyond my reach.

You spoke of dreams,
told me we had our whole lives,
but life,
like sand slipping through the fingers,
kept us apart
your words a lullaby I couldn’t hear,
my heart a drum beat that echoed
in silence.

I tried to close the space between us,
I stretched out my arms,
reached out into the empty air,
but you remained a vision
so close,
yet impossibly far,
your touch a promise
that time could never fulfill.

We made a home together,
but it was built on dreams
that never found their legs,
on hopes that fluttered
but never took flight.
And I stayed there,
waiting for the storm to pass,
waiting for you to see me
as the one who was always
there, in the silence,
just waiting for the words
that never came.

You kept telling me,
"We have our whole lives,"
but life…
it has a way of fading
when it is held too tightly
or held too loosely.
Now I am left with the echoes
of your voice,
and the shadow of a love
that never got the chance
to breathe.