We don’t hold hands when we go into town;
Social faux pas put us on opposite sides of the street.
You smile—
    And I smile—
        We’re smiling actors in a play
            we didn’t want to perform.

But you and me are we
And these people can’t see
What it means to be
Socially free
Until
We
Meet.

Silence.
You brush my shoulder.
You smell like the jasmine perfume
I gave you for our anniversary.
Our eyes meet and
    the world stops to stare.
Not today, you whisper, and we’re
Apart
Once more.