The AFFAIR

by Charles Fisch ©

They simply collided
while rushing off somewhere
Disarmed and thrust face to face
now oblivious to time or place

Both constrained
and fragile in their own way
each envisioned the other
as that worn out cliché
a Messiah who would
rescue them from the rubble
of failures rejections
inadequacies fears
all crumbling foundations
of unfulfilled dreeeams

After many fallow years
they now sprung to life
before the alarm clock blared
to dance through the day
and to party late into the night
bodies and souls entwined
in euphoric bliss

But they got too close too fast
or something or other
did not go their habitual way
They got scared
of getting hurt —again

Or was it some lingering trauma
like scraped knees
from pre-adolescent years
which interfered
as residual recurring phantom tears
or some idealistic fantasy image
which disappeared and magically
re-materialized as reality
—with flaws 
—eeou

They could have tried to compromise
as good relationships necessitate
or see this roadblock as a mirror
to introspect and evaluate the reflection
in their own stagnant pool of fears

Instead they ran away —again
reeking of blame and shame
in the safety and comfort
of their ingrained mundane routines
their predictably scripted rituals
each in the comforting smell
of their own lair
brooding in dark stale air
—licking childhood wounds…