I met a new woman.
So compelling was she,
that in a matter of days,
I was mindlessly hypnotized.
She was so beautiful...
Perhaps worse,
something about her just took me hostage.
That almost never happens.
It gets better.
Or rather, it gets worse.
I'll let you be the judge.
She was graceful... bright...
independent... strong....
Everything I respect.
Qualities rarer now than ever.
Long story short,
everything about her was perfect.
My overpowering instinct was that we might well be
that one-in-a-million match -
something that gets less likely for me
with each passing day.
Her name was Nelle.
<cryptic>
Look, I realize what you just read
might seem a bit contrived, not particularly clever of me.
You might ask why I even bothered to put it that way.
But come now, you can't expect me to be
utterly plainspoken about everything.
</cryptic>
Though drawn like steel to lodestone, I restrained myself.
Took enough time to let a modicum of chemistry develop.
And develop it did, mostly to my surprise.
And then, I expressed my attraction.
I spoke as much from my heart
as my stuttering lips and pounding chest could manage.
Truthfully - it wasn't that bad,
she was most kind,
and I managed to survive the experience.
But... no dice.
You may have already guessed,
there were extenuating circumstances.
There always are; those seem to be the rules.
And I am still spending my time in the presence of no-one else.
Bummer.
The sad and scary part is,
I've started becoming accustomed to this.
Being alone kinda sucks.
Written April 2001.
Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
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