A man stands at the back of a church.
Images flash through his mind.
He remembers middle school,
When he saw her for the first time.
She was blonde and beautiful,
Heartbreakingly beautiful.
Sorrow danced in her blue eyes.

They became best friends,
And later they became lovers.
Talking late into the night about nothing at all.
Six years spent in each other’s warm embrace.
Playing house in a one room apartment.

He stares at her in her white dress,
Though the purity she once had,
He took from her long ago.
His eyes shift to the man she is about to marry,
Wondering how they got here.

What happened?
That fight, so long ago.
So, so long ago.
He couldn’t even remember.
But it took her far from him.

He was ready to fix this.
He clutches his mother’s simple ring.
Knowing in his heart that she would say no.
He would be ready to patch up
All the years lost.

Their eyes meet.
She’s frozen in time.
She’s a 16 year old girl again,
Hopelessly in love with this man.
No. This boy.
The boy from Algebra.

She remembers, too.

Their eyes hold for a moment.
Then she returns her gaze to
The man before her.
Her wedding dress is a hand-me-down.
It was her mother’s. She hates it.
But she loves this man.

At least, that’s what she’s been told.
“Do you take this man…”
Their eyes meet again.
“I do.”

His heart breaks. The ring spills from
His open palm, making little noise
Over the applause of the audience
As man and wife share their first kiss