It could have been...

We were almost in love.

"Almost?" You asked.

"Yes,almost." I replied.

We cared for each other a little more than good friends do.
We were on each other's mind for a little longer than we intended to.
We loved looking at ourselves through each other's eyes a little more than we should.

"Is that proof of love?" You questioned.

"It could have been." I replied.

It could have been.

If we didn't missed each other just when we needed someone the most.
If that someone else hadn't turned up
To comfort me in your place
If we both had cared a little more and been a little braver
To say the words.

We were so close, almost there, just a little more, yet we both gave up, inches before the finishing line.

"Will you remember me?" You wondered.

"I don't know how to," I replied.

"Why not?" You pressed on.

"It wasn't a friendship, it wasn't love." I answered.

"It could have been either. It could have been." You said.



"For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It could have been!'"
---American Poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)