2008
Winter Over My Shoulder
© 2008 Sandra Jean-Pierre
we were supposed to be bound like
fresh cut
sugarcane stalks
in the bundle
of our lives -
intertwined
sweet,
reaching towards our sun
better
like how I wanted to be for you
under one roof
sharing one bed
meals of chicken parmigiana and sweet plantains
culinary fusions
straight dream transfusions
of Mamma, Momma and kiddie(s) make three (or four, more)
me for you
you for me
thinking back
to that imaginary time line
I can only think forward
to how many months
we would have been in connubial bliss
yet
I am this
side of changed
this side of coming to know
that I can love the wrong person
this side of wondering how much
I did and would have done
for your love
this side
of no longer catching feelings
of calculating decisions
of existing for reasons
other than love
my life
has never looked
the same
since you said “I love you”
faintly into the phone
I wish
even now
that you could
fade away as easily
