Fifteen Minutes

"I know
I’m coming to the coda
as I know all waltzes stop.
If we stay at distance
five years more is all I need
If you hold me
fifteen minutes should be plenty."
(Rod McKuen)

I copied this poem onto the back of a photograph over forty years ago, and I have kept it to remind me of one of the happiest times of my life, which was also, ironically, the beginning of a heartache that has never left. No amount of joy can erase the feeling of missing someone. You look for ways to ignore the sadness, to find substitutes, but nothing ever feels quite right. I found myself there again recently, although only briefly. It was then that I realized that the homesickness I had been feeling all these years was gone when I was in his arms.
Oh, how I long for another fifteen minutes.