There He Goes

Luz Lopez

There He Goes
He's gone away, like the wind.
 When he was leaving, I ran after him, thinking,
  "Should I let him go?"

He was on my mind, day in and day out.
 Everywhere I go, there he was.
  In the river, the clouds, the moon---everywhere he was.

At first, everything was all right.
 We went to the movies, the mall, the Homecoming Dance.
  He even gave me my first kiss.

However, as time went on, we began to grow apart.
 The hugs and kisses cease,
  as well as the phone calls and emails.

Finally, the fateful day arrived:
 On Valentine's Day, he broke up with me
  via a "Happy Valentine's Day" card.

"I'm sorry, but I'm breaking up with you," the card said.
 "We need to see other people.
  It's not your fault, so don't blame yourself, and don't cry."

Don't cry! How dare he say that to me!
 As I thought this, tears stream out.
 My world, and my heart, broke apart, shattering into pieces.

I fell into a troubled dream. In it, he's walking away from me.
 I start to run after him, begging him to take me into his arms.
  However, the closer I got to him, the farther away he was.

I ponder the question in my head.
 When I heard the answer, I stopped, feeling somewhat relieved:
  "No. There's no point in that. You must move on."

I woke up, realizing that I couldn't run after him forever.
 Maybe what he wanted out of this was friendship.
  So I did what he wanted "us" to do: We moved on.

Afterwards, we remained close friends.
 I pointed out that I wasn't ready for commitment, either.
  I figured that I still have time to finish my education;
   I'll save commitment for marriage after college and settling.

This poem is written as a token of gratitude.
 Thank you so much,
  for making me stronger and independent.