You should have asked me
To marry you
I would have
You thought our age difference
Was an issue
It wasn’t
I wanted you to ask me
But to have told you thus
Would have been like
Asking you to ask me
And then
I would have had to say
No
To save my pride
Silently I waited
You didn’t ask
I moved with my work
The distance
Made you question us more
Resentment grew
You felt neglected
I felt rejected
Silently we stewed
Until suddenly
Subtly
There was no more us
Just me
And you
Going on with our lives
Separately
I still think about you
Remember your voice
Your laugh
Your mind
That brilliant mind
The kind that’s hard to find
The kind I long to be
And suddenly
I realize
Foolish misplaced pride
Blinded me at the time
And what should have been
I should have asked you
To marry me
E.A. Fussell
01.16.2021
E. A. Fussell 