DISTANCES

At first, distances kept us apart, unsatisfactory farewells,

Trains sliding you away, the stench of smoke

All that remained. Ships sirens booming

Across the port. The gulf between us widening

Into oceans. Empty platforms, deserted quays.

Only those thin blue letters I kept

The long years while the family came and went.

But we grew separate lives, reaching out to

Fresh horizons that became false dawns,

Finding again distances do not bring happiness.

We needed to be near, living together lives

And made therefore a kind of peace, a trust,

That distances will not destroy.

                                    Max Frost

                                    16 Sept 2003