Could Have Been

I never memorized
the stretching of your mouth
in either direction,
up or down;
quiet couldn't find a
comfort in the gaps between
our speeding words and laughter;
my breathing never
missed its rhythm,
just to match itself with yours.
Your absence tore
no gaping hole into
the fabric of my heart...

yet a tiny corner tingles
bittersweet as I remember
meeting you next to
that open door, when I
first made you smile,
when everything inside me
spoke of what could be--
but now,
what only could have been.