I never met you, knew you, or had your love but then I did. The image of the girl who would walk up to me in life, as if it were some railway station and laugh, smile and warm your heart in my embrace faded slowly from my hopes..
That image of your soft brown hair and loving eyes and cosy coat keeping you all warm, and with that scarf of yours peeping from your collar, and those brown shoes you loved, because your dad had bought them never materialised and so I made do with adding tales of disaster to a life apparently lived to amuse those more caring of themselves than I.
I dreamed of our conversations, and the way you’d smile when I did something silly, and how you’d know me like no other and make each moment with you like a prayer. I looked for you in places when young: confident that soon our paths would cross in some gallery or long since vanished bookshop and then less frequently because the hope you’d match your step with mine faded with time and advancing years.
You would not love me now, raddled as I am by disappointment, and choices sculpted out of desperation rather than good judgement: the victim of my own chaotic search for perfection, rummaging through careers, and eating romance as if it where a chocolate, wasting my innocence on the fruitless quest to find you and build some idyll: always looking for the perfect moment.
Now, with my last sip of innocence, I dwell on my growing sense of obsolescence, part of a world disengaging from its rhythms in the blind search for some improvement, sliding towards an unwritten future
In love with Love. Beautifully written, with a melancholic undertone that seeps beneath the skin, etching questions upon the soul. Sad how life never ceases to fail to live up to our expectations. An excellent write.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is brilliant! So much in this. And as the above comment says “in love with love” – been there, done that… 😊
LikeLike
Phenomenal!!!
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Under The Night Starry Sky and commented:
Peter is the best.
LikeLike
Missing our best opportunities looking for someone else’s idea of perfection –
LikeLike
Peter….this was wonderful!! Soulful and deep in the thoughts of what could have been. We are all there to some degree but maybe with other areas of our life..if not love. I loved the way you portrayed where he was with where he is now. Well done! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
“eating romance as if it where a chocolate” just made me melt! Love!
LikeLiked by 1 person
ooo…yes! yes! that IS a great line, isn’t it? 🙂
LikeLike
With such beautifully formed words and reflections, who wouldn’t reconsider? So good to stop by again dear friend. Also wanted to mention that I recommended your book on the WordPress authors’ post. I know how reluctant you are to toot your horn so I did. It’s in moderation but I hope they approve it. You can also add yourself here: http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/more-wordpress-books-authors/
Hugs,
Elizabeth (feeling better every day)
LikeLike
Your pieces always leave me speechless.”choices sculpted out of desperation rather than good judgment”- We’ve all been there! This was so relatable. Beautiful work!
LikeLiked by 1 person
But how can he be sure she wouldn’t care, now? What if she’s thinking the same things? If he keeps looking, he may yet see that kindred spirit shining behind the tears…. They’ve been through the searching time…now, give them the finding time. We need more late-life love stories. You have the right voice for it. Come, Peter, take the seanchaí’s place at the fireside. Tell us The Rest Of The Story.
LikeLike
Bear in mind they have never met and she might not exist: by the time he was old and in the period in which the post was written, would he be the man he was or she the girl he dreamed of?
LikeLiked by 1 person
“The spirit inside lives forever – and love is when spirits touch.”
LikeLike
Beautiful writing, true emotions genuinely expressed.
Like Christine, however, I have to wonder…if he keeps looking, waiting, trying again…will he find the true love?
LikeLike
Yes he might but by then would he be the man he was or she the girl he dreamed of
LikeLike
“People aren’t perfect – but love is.”
LikeLike
I used to eat romance like chocolate…now I eat love, like chocolate 🙂
(Actually, reading this….I realize that I still pine for an idealized romantic ending. All the conditioning is hard to shake!).
LikeLike
What a Lovey-Dovey piece!! I guess all of us have these thoughts at one time or other and I wish each one of us get to live these thoughts ..Love is the most beautiful feeling…for giving and experiencing!!
LikeLike
Although I have known this fellow and a few like him, I must happily report he is not me. I actually did meet my dream girl 47 years ago. She has blessed my with her company ever since. But I hope this lad does not give up the search…..she waits for him around the corner…
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have a lovely story Al, and it is cheering to know
LikeLike
Talk about ripping a heart out. There is nothing else to compare. I am so sad and sorry filled. Though I don’t know who the intended was, the words are heartbreaking. I shan’t write to day I’m just too blue.
LikeLike
Imagined love … not real, but still entering into the realm of disappointment, but also a strange kind of fulfillment. The last paragraph is especially poignant, Peter.
LikeLike
What a lovely poetic post. And of course they could still meet. She could come into focus and hold his hand as he lies dying on a pavement, no, stop me somebody!
LikeLike
I don’t want to stop you. I was already starting to laugh
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLike
Reblogged this on My Spiritual Awakening From Within and commented:
Beautifully written and love sure has many meanings.
LikeLike
So poignant, lots of layers in there, and I adore such structure. You capture this person’s angst very very well.
LikeLike
Lovely memories of lost love…
or perhaps, you married her! xx
LikeLike
Or never found her
LikeLike
Wow. This moved me so
LikeLike
Oh this is so sad. Wonderfully written, but oh so sad.
LikeLike
This is beautiful, Peter. SD
LikeLike
Oh Peter, beautifully written. Seething with anticipation and joy unfulfilled. I’m smiling and yet tears push to the corners of my eyes. You sir, are the master of your craft.
LikeLike
Lovely writing – powerful atmosphere.
LikeLike
Beautiful.
LikeLike
So beautifully bittersweet.
LikeLike
Peter, your words had me gripping my heart. Soulful, searching and heart wrenching. Thank you for sharing.
LikeLike
I almost hate to share my immediate thoughts because I don’t see any else who went where my mind took me. Initially, I thought the piece was about a little girl, a baby unknown or given up for adoption. A longing to meet someone who wouldn’t or couldn’t have been a part of his life either due to circumstances unknown or kept secret from him. Either way, lost love or lost child this piece touches the heart deeply.
LikeLike