Side-By-Side Poem by Jude Warner Laserna

Side by side, we sat
the tension there once was
has faded like
the sounds of our laughter

the look in our eyes is of
nothingness

we are the strangers we
didn't know we could become

strangers, we have become
and still we cannot tell
the difference
between holding hands
and
hand-holding.

side by side, we sit

strangers
there is nothing here
nothing
and the hand I am holding,
the hand that remains,

is my own.