Stay

He stayed too long,
like a mysterious twilight fog.
Words unbroken like
papery leaves in the colorful fall,
he spoke to me.
But it was too late,
I was involved.
He stayed too long,
as if knowing I would fall
if looked at in the proper light.
I could feel my hands sweat.
Muddled warmth between my thin palms.
After all these years,
a grown woman,
yet one look into his eyes
and I am sent reeling 14 years past,
to a chance encounter.
Two young souls,
I must have stayed too long.
Would he have loved me if I hadn't?
And what now, young one?
What will I say the next time
I see your eyes?
Hear your voice?
Touch your skin?
All the while, secretly,
in hope,
you will linger too long once again.