She

She was like

A breath of fresh air

In a scorching desert

Refreshing yet fleeting

Gone sooner than she arrived

Which makes you think

Was she real or just a make believe

Yet even as she vanished

She was able to provide

A few moments of reprieve

From the discord

That I feel

Like music

Floating

Like leaves

In a puddle

Rippling the tears

Of an unsolved riddle

Life and love merged

In that transient moment

Time and space

Bent forward and backwards

As if light passing through a crooked prism

Bathing my being

In a dance

Of light and shadow

And defining my very existence

Even for but a faint second

How can a short episode

Of a union of souls

Rival a lifetime

Of pre-supposed peace?

How can love so pure and true

And enduring

Be shrouded in lies?

Author's Note: This is one of the few surviving free verses I wrote impromptu from college