never let go

Love is a hand
you hold in the dark
and smile
and tease
and want to kiss,
but only when you’re there,
it’s harder when you’re gone.

When talking,
we compare our experiences
and measure our maturity
by how long we can go
without saying goodbye.

For a moment
all is smooth,
then fortune creeps
her silky head
and modifies
our best-laid plans.

What memory savors
distance dims,
but constantly
we spend our moments
reaching out
always vowing to ourselves
this is the hand
we’ll never let go.

by Harold Maddocks