Once upon a time, there was a boy

Whose gaze burned mine like coal.

As he stared, he caught my eye

And quite possibly, my soul.

This surely wasn’t love;

Yet surely wasn’t lust.

But since I didn’t know,

My heart I could not trust.

I soon grew too obsessed,

But still, I didn’t care.

I didn’t think it’d hurt

To only ever stare.

Time flew on and on

As boy grew to a man.

I fell into dreaming

As a star-crossed lover can.

Not a word we’d spoken yet;

Too soon, he went away.

Time was well against us,

Since ever the first day.

Not a word we’ve spoken since

And still, I do not know

If, on that fateful day we met,

He ever took my soul.

But if, indeed, my soul he took,

I’d much rather now know

Than spend all my life thinking

That I was ever whole.