I only knew you
To be
A line from someone else’s story

A page from a book
I had only heard
But never got around to reading.

Folks told me
you could feel the
the heaviness of the darkness
and the warmth of light
Everything and nothing
At the same time.

When I heard you were in town
I knew how it would end.
I’d rise from my bed,
Walk to the door,
And the rub the back
Of someone else’s
problem.

Occasionally, I’d jump—
Sometimes the knock
Would send waves of vibrations
Underneath my feet.

Yet the days passed
And the gray hairs grew.

*     *.    *

On the sunniest day
Just before I took the deepest breath
It came
That knock
The chill blew through
With the warmth not far behind.
The lights flickered
It was everything and nothing at the same time.

I rose
and the door
brought me to it.
The knob turned itself open;
One eye open and another closed;
Holding my breath;
Clenching my jaws;
And just before another second passed,

I met the moment
There you were.
EVERYTHING
and
nothing..