…another goodbye

You are so very far away, not oceans apart
but the distance between us
although just a line between two points on a map
it is more than oceans, an unconquerable emptiness
as vast as the void between the sun and the moon
in which neither can ever touch the other
our distant hearts exist in an endless mutual orbit
we each eclipse the other in a dance of darkness
that leaves us both lightless, always returning to our place
our union a curiosity, tethered by some force
we cannot see or understand
we never bridge the void but we both feel the pull
of the irresistible gravity, we spin in endless circles
catching glimpses of each other in the distance, as we pass
and the infinite space between us
somehow gets greater, day, after day, after day
this is not for an absence of love, not for a lack of desire
but time and circumstance and the cycles of the seasons of life
the obligations and connections
that create their own metaphorical barriers
barriers to anything, that is just for ourselves
but for us, these things just are
they are not an obligation, but a commitment to love
yet when seen from a distance, considered a sacrifice
but the truth is so far from this
the circle of life endlessly demands our attention
testing our hearts and our souls, over and over again
turning a child into a parent’s parent, a parent into a child’s child
an inevitable circle of responsibility
tied to duty to the ones we love
but in the in between there are moments of bliss
nothing can compete with this
a love that was destined before time began
in every lifetime we both inhabit the same earth
sometimes we never meet but our souls still connect
a constant longing for something
something, that in the moment we cannot comprehend
just a lingering feeling of something lost
something eternal, boundless and unconditional
something that whispers only to us from a faraway place and time
something that brings both comfort and a wild restlessness
something that cannot be denied
a constant ache, a shadow that follows us everywhere
in these brief moments of eternity when our souls find each other
when we are face to face and hand in hand
there is only love, a greater love than even we can understand
intricately woven, two souls on a journey
bound together by fate our lives intertwined
from the very start, heart to heart
we swim in the depths of each other’s eyes
there are no secrets and no lies
the only thing unspoken, the inevitable truth
there will always be another goodbye
© Ann Bagnall