In a world of tv clichés

I thought our series would be timeless,

that it would survive the seasons.

 

I laugh as I remember

How I Met Your Mother.

Confused on an interstate car park,

cellphones and calamity.

Only to feel underwhelmed.

 

You said “it's not just the jetlag”,

I said “how can anyone fall in love with a zombie?”

eating hearts for brains in an emotional no-man's land.

 

But it started to feel good but also bewildering,

friendship-flirtation fused

but still not love as we know it.

 

I remember your mother's grace,

I remember your loving smile...

and I wish it were mine.

 

Every rule has an exception

and I wanted to be that exception...

I wanted you to be that exception.

Except that wasn't the case.

 

You see love like a firework,

quick to light, volatile and colourful.

I see love like a slow burning candle,

aromatic - crafting a fragrance of two hearts joined together.

 

I hoped we'd meet somewhere in the middle...

You have your way,

I have mine,

and that together we'd have ours.

 

It just didn't happen how we thought it would,

how we wanted it to.

So instead of JD and Elliot

the friends come lovers

come fuckers

come fighters

come friends

come soul mates...

 

I find us embodying another tv cliché:

Ted and Robin.

 

One time lovers who despite differences

of country and culture

found common ground.

Found each other

just not in the way they thought they would...

just not in the way they hoped they would.

 

Mutual attraction,

mutual friends,

mutual goals for self-fulfilment.

But just not “the one”.

 

Now I could hit the bar and wallow in sadness,

or I could raise the bar and use you as the measuring stick...

for all I ever wanted.

 

The best I never had.