Maybe in another universe I would have felt the tightness of our embrace,

the way you held me close to you,

and I would have known sooner,

and recognised the feeling of being safe in your arms,

the same feeling I felt in every other universe.

 

Maybe in another universe I would have recognised you immediately,

I would hug you back tighter, squeeze you just a little closer,

and we would pull back,

eyes locked, time frozen,

we would hear a click, the fitting of a puzzle.

 

Maybe in another universe we would have smiled instead of cried,

you would pull me in closer than ever again,

and I would bury myself in your shoulders,

as tears of relief stream down my face, asking

“where have you been all this time?”

 

Maybe in another universe as you held me tight,

you would have told me how much you loved me before I left,

and maybe I would have been quicker to recognise you,

this tenderness, this blossoming love,

and nurture it better; not kill it the seeds before it even had the chance to sprout.