The Last Moment

I held you that day
Not knowing it would be the last time.
Content in your arms
I smiled my return
You bent forward to kiss,
The exchange
Warming me in the winter cold.
Your eyes held such
Gentle gladness,
I never would have known
How things would turn.
Perhaps it's better to have had
That one last moment,
When we paused in the night air
Before walking on,
Turning the corner,
Holding hands as long as,
Distance would allow,
Then parting-
That last soft caress,
Before my footprints marked
The path alone.
This is a lost moment
That plays in my mind each night,
Like a broken recorder,
Playing and replaying continuously,
Until wearing out, and sleep takes over.
I wake to find your space
Empty beside me in the bed,
And wish that far from strangers
That we were friends instead.