Snow On The River (V) Poem by jim hogg

I saw you only one more time
in all those years between.
We stared into each other's eyes
across a Glasgow street.

We stood awhile without a word
then went our separate ways.
And now, at last, the snow has stopped;
this river's full of rain

- this river that's been running
underneath this winding life
beneath the falling flakes of snow
that melted into mine.

Confession soothes the soul they say,
and I've been truly blessed
yes, I have loved and I've been loved
far more than I deserved;

and I had luck beyond belief
and found a creature who
exactly matched all my ideals:
a girl I barely knew.

I worshipped at a distance:
you and I were in our teens
The girlfriend of a good friend;
it stayed that way for years.

I built myself a wall of ways
to keep you out of bounds;
a wall so high my love for you
could never quite break out.

But bitter-sweetly day by day
while you loved someone else,
we gradually began to know
each other pretty well:

in sober times or drunken times,
on land or out at sea
and never crossed the line
that separated you from me.

Then changes came. They always do.
Our lives were thrust apart.
And both of us soon settled down
to make another start.

Until we met in Miller's bar,
and all our hinterland
crashed thrillingly around us,
though I didn't understand.

But you were tied and I was tied,
and that was my excuse,
though both of us came just an inch
away from breaking loose.

That night outside the Old Mill lounge
I left it all unsaid,
but no-one ever loved me quite
the way you loved me then.

And later by the golf course lane
I couldn't say what's true;
I never wanted anyone
more than I wanted you.

And so, of course, I walked away
and lived some kind of life.
I heard about you now and then,
but never took the time

to sort amongst the crumbling past,
and get the story straight.
Now here you are, still woven through,
these pieces that remain