It's been a long time

felt a million miles from anywhere,
from caring for anyone -

didn't want to cross that line
into anything but 'me'.

I had my own life
my own way of living,

I would shut the world out
whenever I wanted, thought that was the way it should be.

Now it seems, it's been a lifetime,

of aloneness,
independence,
on my own-ness;
no-one, and nothing more inside
being 'free'

and how I wanted to keep things that way.

Close the door,
turn away,
and hide
my thoughts within me.

Yet how could I
have prevented this,

how could I ever once foresee
the meeting of this stranger
who emerged from nothingness
to consume
the very heart of me?

Yet,

if I'd known it was coming,
if I could have sent this away,
turned it on its heel,

...then I would still have said

'stay'

for I like the way you make me feel.