Just Over a League Away

I know you're there. You have to be there - obscured from view, so close I can see your breath in the sky. You rise as I fall away, holding station with reason but not with hope. The path between us is not flat, but bent by the physical laws of life.

I was happy in the mountains. I even think from the highest point I may have been able to see you through the haze. When the fear came I tried to run to you. Down the scree and then falling, sliding until I could fall no more. Water's edge. No further.

The lapping folds trim half the grey sky. I cannot see you now.

I know you're there. You have to be there.

I'll climb again, regain my vantage - but I'll stay here awhile. I can't see you. But standing here with water at my feet, I know you are just over a league away.