Once Upon a Fortnight

A Tortured Poet’s Regret — No1

alvina was her solemn name,
sanctimonious and sure,
uncertain in the ways of lovelorn eyes —
but she was a poet of a kind,
it’s true,
in a criss-crossed manner of being.

love was a stranger
in guided glimpses teeming
until she met a shooting star
in the form of a man
who had a smile
as golden as a sunrise.

a meet-cute —
they happen all the time, you see,
but the truth of it is that we never really know
when we’re going to meet someone
who causes our world to stand still
in one guided motion gleaning.

alvina knew better than most
what the cost of love was —
and she didn’t take well
to someone seeing her
almost through a glass darkly
as if he were glimpsing her through fog.