What does it signify?
That wave, a half
glance, cool brush
of the air with a white
hand, the nervous
smile behind lips
roughened by time.

What does it mean?
that curt half-glance,
a sign of love
once taken, lived
in. Revenge?
A determined
‘I am all right’
desperate last chance
(It was ten years ago)
to show defiance.

A gesture
built up over those same
sad years, to show
that love dies not once,
in the turmoil of parting,
but every time we meet.