Poetic License: ‘Denial’
(From “Sanibel Joe’s Songbook” — ArtPoem inspired by Carol Rosenberg)
It was not in another country
Nor in another time.
There was no music playing
And we did not dance or dine.
There was no suite I rented
To which we did retire,
And no romantic breakfast
Relit our evening fire.
No moonlit beach for lovers
To frolic on the sand,
No sun-drenched orange morning
For bodies to withstand,
Nor back seat in a drive-in
With a movie rated R,
And girl to whom I’d promise
Someday to make a star.
Nor did we dare a hammock
With swinging to and fro,
Or standing up in rowboats,
Or slip-sliding in the snow.
It was not a brief encounter
Two strangers on a train,
Over before it started
Until we’d meet again.
Nor just a night to remember
Until the seas run dry
Or morning in December
When a kiss became a sigh.
It’s not a true love story —
Yet I simply can’t forget
The love that never happened
On the day we never met.