Suddenly

This poem appears in the Summer 2016 issue of Modern Age. To subscribe now, go here.

Suddenly, your eyes and her eyes meet;
you know it’s why you’re here, why you came,
within the beat of a single heartbeat,
you know your lives will never be the same.
Suddenly, nothing happens. Time slows. It creeps.
Until, at last, gracefully, ever so slow,
she’s walking towards you and finally speaks . . .
to the woman next to you, “It’s time to go.”
But suddenly, she turns and smiles at you;
you stare into her eyes and her lovely face
wondering what you should say or do,
aware that something momentous is taking place.
But she’s content. She’s calm. She’s unaffected,
as if nothing was ever sudden or unexpected.