By Lisa Shields
Date: 12 January 2000

Rekindling

We were wildfire from the first,
no awkward moments,
no strained silences
in pace, in tempo 
and so at ease
that we never guessed
a day could come
when all that would be different.

Two decades together
we were bound to change form
even if we didn't try to.
Growing doesn't have to mean growing apart.
The things that were so seamless
worked for two other people,
not the ones we are today.

But truth told, 
I cannot bear to lose you,
even as I cannot turn
back into the girl
who first caught your eye,
then your heart.

You are the skin that holds me together.
You are the sinews that give me motion.
And I must find a way to catch you again,
to be your home, and heart's dream.
I must find the common language again,
and lose the anger and frustration
that are mortaring a wall between us.
The only word that hasn't changed
in form or weight or meaning
is love.