it was as if the music stopped 

the carousel slowed and stopped

the grand crowd on the boardwalk 

stood still as mannequins and you stood still as a mannequin

while i walked on in silence

but for the breakers

as if our coming together was preordained

without effort  

without thought   

how else explain the effortlessness

the immediacy

the result

as if we had been given time

time to get over the past

time to get on with the present

which stretched ahead of us like a highway through the desert

straight as an arrow

no obstructions

all hazards waved off by the hand of a greater being

as if it were too good to be true

if we looked too carefully we would see that

so we looked away

happy in our illusion that we were somehow chosen to be given

this wondrous gift of each other

and the road would go on and on and on

as if hello and goodbye weren't meant for us

that we had met in the middle of something already in existence

as if we were donning attire made to our specifications

comfortable and familiar

and the coming off of those clothes was comfortable and familiar

just as one would hope   

but never expect

as if tomorrow would not come soon enough

that lying in bed by your side was a precursor to missing you

imagining eternity without you

~

it is as if i have willed away the moon and stars

willed the dark penumbra upon us

doomed us by the simple act of cognizance