Free Verse: Unrequited Love

once upon a time
my soul was free
free like a river
rushing to the anonymous sea
the body of water
that drowns all rational hearts
the sea was you.

once upon a time
I was blooming
a symbol of youth
a tall, long-legged
short haired
efflorescence
then fate plucked me from the earth
and handed me
to you.

once upon a time
there was no fate
and we were on the way
to our own destinies
our own decisions
our own existence

how I hate that we
were destined to meet!
for had I been born with the will
To skip the years of life
that have dwindled into
cold
heartbroken
actuality
our paths would never have
dreamed
of intertwining.

for to tell the truth
that I have followed you down the road
with the love
of years of cruel humanity
would be far more arduous
far more daunting
far more terrifying

than to never
have known you
at all