Ever since I was young

15 or 16

To be exact

I wanted things

Many things

That weren’t to be mine

I wanted the fortune

Of the businessman

14 houses down the block

I wanted the fame

All eyes on me

The world waiting for my next move

But above all

The love

Of the girl next door

Her hair was blonde

Not white blonde

But dirty

And her eyes

Were the shade of my fathers coffee

That he brewed first thing each morning

Her legs and arms

Were long, slender, and pale

Like the milk from the farmers market

And she had a certain grace about her

Every movement was as smooth

As the surface of the water before it breaks

But it wasn’t her hair

Her eyes

Her grace

Her beautiful, perfect face

It was the imperfection

In her espresso eyes

That I could tell she worked hard to bury

Deep inside

I knew it was why she never smiled

Or cracked a joke

Behind the coffee irises

I saw the smoke

I had been warned

It would go up in flames

But my young pride

Was to blame

The sound of warning sirens grew close

Then far

As my wobbly bike

Pedaled past them all

I worked night and day

To earn her heart

And even then

I knew it was doomed from the start

She came to love me

After a year or two

But we could never work

Like the other lovers do

Her father was the mayor

And I was poor

He didn’t care I gave her happiness

Because I could give no more

The day he learned of us

He came to my house

Offered me money to leave her alone

She was priceless so I would accept no amount

He tried to reason

But love can’t be abandoned

Then he yelled

And threw unreturned punches

He saw my determination and threatened arrest

But she was my freedom

So when that failed

He did what powerful men do best

He destroyed my reputation

Everything I had left

All it took was a speech

And I was done for just like that

But his daughter was more important

If I couldn’t have her I didn’t want to live

So I kept coming back

For she was my one and only love

So I would put up with it all

The threats hanging over my head

Because to me it was clear and certain:

Without her I was no better than dead

I didn’t take his sudden silence as a warning

I thought it was finally done

Little did I know my trouble was far from over

Like the calm in the eye of the storm

She came to me crying one day

Knees scraped and bloodied

Tears painting her dust covered face

Like rain in the desert sands

Through gasps and sobs

I learned the mayors plan:

Ship his daughter across the country

Marry her off to a wealthy man

She had escaped her home

But her absence would be discovered soon

A decision was to be made

Under the waning moon

Have this be our last meeting

Or never see home again

I told her, “Run away with me.”

It came as naturally as breathing

Because I had nothing more to lose

But for her, there was everything to

I already led a life of hardship and poverty

While she lived one of laziness and luxury

Her choice was agonizing

But I think we both knew

In the end there was no competition

So goodbye it was

We were too different

She and I

And fate was never on our side

Maybe in another life, my love…