The tears rolled down her young cheeks without restraint, smearing the black kohl of her modesty as her small world fell to pieces She proclaimed her eternal love for me; said she couldn't live without me A lifetime later she would understand I was nothing... but just then I was resplendent, the Helios of her cosmos I never was anything until that day, nor was I ever again worth a thought Such was her gift, that if only for a brief moment, I mattered. I broke her heart in return... but that is divine will For me it was too late - by the time our eyes met I had petrified For her it was too early - her chemistry had just begun The cruelty of Eros And we lament the timing, the magic that never was, the brevity of light in a world of darkness [25-IX-2013]