Roots And Wings Poem by samuel faye

Ironic really, isn't it
that I should now be alone?
You put off loving anyone else for so long.
 
The day we met lives strong
sheltered deep within my heart.
A moment impossible to forget... or move past.
 
You walked in - the bell jingled.
I looked up - my breath caught in my throat.
My heart skipped a beat right then.
 
I think perhaps it's been running a beat behind ever since.
 
You were a bosom friend to me
and silently I loved you so.
We lived that year together clinging fast.
 
You clinging to the sanity I offered.
Your life, your world was spiraling out of control.
You needed the steady, the friend you found in me.
 
Me clinging to the hope of tomorrow
feeling the electricity in your touch,
knowing I was yours for the taking.
 
You didn't realize that my heart was yours until I'd given up.
 
Life goes on with or without love
and so I moved forward, your friend.
College, marriage, children, and one on the way.
 
Always maintaining the bridge between
that space from my life to yours.
And then you called with news that rocked my world.
 
Never understanding your lack of a wife.
Watching in awe of the single father you were.
Nearing a due date for son number 3, we talked into the night.
 
Some moments in time are frozen - like when we met and now this.
 
The subject I'd avoided for over a decade.
First loves were on your mind.
You spoke so tenderly of the one you never told.
 
She saved your life you said,
and in return, you spared her your harsh world.
Now you wondered if it was right to never have spoken the words.
 
Asking my opinion, as often you did
you waited for my honest reply.
'Love, I've come to realize, should always be declared.'
 
So with tears in my eyes, and pain in your voice, you told me I was THE ONE.
 
Nowhere to go with news like that
but I responded the best I could.
'For what it's worth, my life would be different if I'd known.'
 
We cried together for what we'd missed.
Promised we wouldn't change.
You went to bed alone that night and in a way so did I.
 
Years passed by as they always do.
Me now struggling with vows I took for life,
you holding hope I would release myself.
 
I loved you still, enough to encourage you to open your heart.
 
Fifteen years had come and gone
when you finally surrendered to love.
That was among the most bittersweet announcements I've heard.
 
Phone calls and shared lives remained.
I was so relieved that she didn't mind.
You had become my roots, and I had become your wings.
 
Vacations brought you for visits.
Children grew into fast friends, as we had been.
Life hadn't really changed for us - except the knowing.
 
Almost 20 years ago now you walked into my world and it's never been the same.
 
Ironic really, isn't it
that I should now be alone?
You put off loving anyone else for so long.