Walk with Me for a Moment

(from Brainstorms)

Walk with me for a moment.
You don’t need to leave
your whole life behind,
don’t need to cancel the plans
you’ve made for next Thursday.
I won’t ask you to change your mind,
only to stroll by my side for a time
and share some company
on this journey.

Let me share my secrets.
Let my heart be a soft nest
in which to cradle your fears,
your wildest dreams,
the swirling stirrings
of your imagination.

I will look after them until the time is ripe,
and we both know the time will come
for us to release one another,
without fanfare or tug-of-wars,
without a long and tearful goodbye.
Just a gentle release,
as you veer off to the left
and I continue on,

Even as the small part of me
longs to call you back.

Even as I feel a twitch
in the high part of my nose
when I remember the day
that we chanced to walk down
the same road.