The Chances I Missed

 Mengenang Djt N.

In halls of ivy, thirty-five years gone,

a shy-eyed girl, a quiet, early dawn

A year and a half my senior, yet a child

in matters of the heart, so undefiled

                                             

She watched me from the library stacks,

her kindness a warm blanket on my back

She’d ask of me, a deep concern so rare,

a tender note I was too scared to share

 

My own heart stirred, a silent, clumsy beat,

impressed by her, so gentle and so sweet

But pride and youth, a foolish, thorny wall,

I looked away and missed her tender call

 

The years rolled on, a blur of work and strife,

a different path, a different kind of life

The memories of her, a faded thing,

a melody that had forgot to sing

Then came the night, a dream so clear and bright,

we stood again within that college light

No words were said, but feelings, raw and true,

a love unspent, between me and her

 

I woke to find my pillow damp with tears,

for chances lost to time and foolish fears

That silent love, a ghost that won't retreat,

a missed connection, bittersweet...©2025

 

Pondok Cabe, South Tangerang, 2 August 2025, 11:36 p.m.