I remember the expression on your face.
The lines of detachment, the conquered longing.
You erased everything and deracinated yourself.
If we embraced each other, we’d disintegrate in
A hollow gesture. And maybe we have never been
More than hot air. The further away I walked from you
The greater my freedom became.
She’d attack me in the middle of the street,
She’d always have your back -how could she not-
And huffed that I simply didn’t understand.
Yes, there was one thing I had no knowledge of,
But the things you never dared to comprehend outweighed
Everything. He took you under his wing and it was full of thorns.
I was certain of one thing, that if I’d see love I’d recognise it.
“The green dress” by Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838-1904)
