Time and Place

She is just beyond the horizon
I tell myself.
We see the same sunset.
The moon’s soft glow
Gentles both our slumber.
The train for which I must stop
Tomorrow
May also interrupt her transit.

But this is illusion.

She dwells in another time.
Her days appear
On a different calendar.
We are no more on the same plain
Than this moment
And that just passed.

I need to believe
She is still approachable
But time and place
Brutalize my hope.
They drop a veil
Between lovers
And although mighty effort
May be taken
To bring reunion
Time and place forbid
Such happy conclusion.

Time and place
Change bodies
Wearing at the edges
The former aspect
Dulling the heart and mind
Forever altering the memory
Of what was
And forbidding any hope
Of what may be.

I knew her once.
Once, she knew me.
But time and place
Seeped between the bonds
And all that remains will be
A dim copy of the original.

Tell me I am mistaken
Won’t you, please?
Give a little hope
To this fearful man.

Shame upon
Time and place
Until what was
Becomes what is
And what is
Remains what will forever be.