did we really talk unconditionally
in those golden days
of change
liberation
opportunity
or was it more casually
through the music of
his undying and
her eternal
our love taking wings
flying us into tomorrow
unfalteringly
undiminished
because i can’t recollect
the markers, the high tides
or the crosswinds
but
i tirelessly recall
the stolen glances
that would have written those conversations

First published in “Flashes of Brilliance”
edited by Darren White, October 2019;
https://www.flashesofbrilliance.org/vespers-geoffrey-aitken/