panama city,1968

a gentle memory

along a golden strip of sand
so many years before
still a boy, not yet a man
i met you on the shore
we were both so free, so innocent
careless and in our youth
not far from the crashing of the waves
we found a subtle truth
exchanging childhood fantasies
we shared both day and night
pushing adolescent boundaries
a youthful love took flight
some moments we were children
we spoke and played as such
then tender moments drew the line
"twixt too little and too much
but this was just a summer love
two families parted ways
a boy.. a girl, were miles apart
and time became a maze

"though we gotta say goodbye for the summer"
what kind of end was this?
that music slayed my virgin heart
and sealed it with a kiss
and so, i went on with my life
so many years went by
at times i stopped to ask myself
the wherefore and the why
i played, i married, fell in love
divorced...what can i say?
perhaps things would be different now
had we met along the way?

but you went your way, i went mine
you found a happy life
and then you found me once again
but you're someone else's wife
how cruel the world, how fickle, life
to separate two souls
who found a way, each on their own
but never to be whole
if we had never parted ways
would we still be together?
or would cruel fate have intervened
in spite of love's endeavor?

the question remains...
what if?