Kiss

When she kissed me

I took it as a joke.

She backed away

Eyes wide

Hands rising to her mouth

As though she was afraid

Of what I might do.

My mind raced

To determine her intention.

She had been a friend

For years

But I perceived her

As always unobtainable

So when she kissed me

I thought it was a tease

Like a bone tossed to a dog.

My heart leapt

But my brain was on fire

Feeling diminished

At the hands

(or lips)

Of a woman I’d always

Admired.

She fled the room.

The moment was gone

And never returned.

But her kiss somehow

Aged me

And I never again

Misread the intention
Behind the sweetness
Of a simple 
Kiss.