Unrelenting Fear

Short free-verse poem about how I feel about an old friend

Why do I bother to think about you?
You're off in your world, I'm in my own too
It's been almost four months since we stood face to face
My birthday came by and you gave me one last embrace
That led me to think that I might cross your mind
A day doesn't go by that you aren't on mine
And yet when I see you go by in the hall
I choose to pretend I don't see you at all
I don't understand the way that I feel
Why can't I just talk to you and make something real?
Just one conversation I know would go well
I know we could make something more of ourselves
But instead alone I stand
In fear and ashamed
That if I said hello,
It would kill all that remained.