Borrowed Light

Across the room, I caught the shine,

the way her fingers met his sleeve.

A quiet truth, a clear design,

a story I just couldn't weave.

Her laugh, it floated, light and free,

and in her eyes, that golden fleck.

She looked at him, not back at me,

a subtle, unintended check.

And then he smiled, a knowing thing,

a language only they could hold.

My stomach gave a sudden sting,

a story that felt centuries old.

I watched the way her head would lean,

a small, unconscious, easy grace.

And wondered at the space between

that moment and my empty place.