we could have been joni and victor

you could call it luck,
this thing which either
works in our favor or
shoots us down when
we think everything's on the up and up.

i have loved
and i have been lied to.
the air was champagne,
bubbling and fizzing over
with delights in my head:
a taste of what may come.
it was an idealized
butterfly kiss dream.
don't you know?
we could have been
joni and victor.

there was a couple
arm in arm, or
were they holding hands?
they were set, matched,
like two elements sharing ions.
it was a cupcake whose
frosting fell into the dirt.
he seemed alone, in need
just like me, O God,
to have the space filled
and the light return to his eyes.

we could have been that
that couple, eating off
of the same plate.
don't you know?
we could have been
joni and victor.
we could have been
more
than me looking
and you walking
the other way.

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"joni and victor" are a ficticious couple, based upon a story i overheard