He was a light
they had wanted to be
close to, even briefly
in passing.
A certain remoteness
and glow they had
hoped to ‘reel in’
like some precious catch.
In those ephemeral seconds
they had, indeed, connected
or seen a glimpse
of their other possibilities,
their own imagined lives.
They had sensed a music
of the spheres from afar,
the pleasure of presence
and the splashy warmth
of intimacy.
It was all that he was
and had been to
many a passing boat or craft:
a beacon by which to gauge
their own relative depths,
light, desires and love.
Their own best gifts
of self.