In This Instant

I don't remember the first time I met you,
But I'll never forget the first time that we spoke.
I was spewing nonsense,
While you stood there like a doe.
I ran my words out,
You smiled kindly,
I made an awkward face,
You said something pithy,
And it put me in my place.
I tried to dodge a conversation,
But you engaged me in such a way,
That I paused, floundered, and pouted,
Before I stopped,
And stayed.
Your intelligence was mesmerizing,
My confidence a farce,
You were someone genuine,
I was genuinely someone else.
I remember it was a school day,
When you had your accident.
I heard about it,
My heart skipped,
That's how I knew I considered you my friend.
When I saw the bruises the seatbelt left,
Despite your fear,
I was relieved.
Because while it may have hurt and pained you,
It meant there was a lot more the two of us could do.
We had a lot of good times,
The learned and the nag,
Dancing hand in hand,
Strange conversations with one another's dad.
I had an inkling that you liked me,
Or at least that your grandma did.
Neither of us knew how to address it,
I guess 'cause we were kids.
You went away to school,
I occasionally came to visit.
By the time you were brave enough to ask me out,
I was too embittered.
That didn't distract us from our adventures,
Or from making other plans,
Though it did leave us guarded,
And that always made me sad.
Fortunately we powered through it,
Look where we are now,
Three thousand miles from where we met,
Collaborating on ideas for the net,
Improving lives,
Inspiring minds,
Being adults and taking time,
To sit and meet and talk and eat,
Or drink and cry and question why.
But why doesn't matter,
Neither does then.
Only now, today, this instant.
Because in this instant,
We are friends.