15 minutes to midnight
The latest so far that I've reached home.

Fingers entwined,
Swinging our hands
As you chuckled at how I hopped
Off the bus.

(I never understood how I could amuse you with that single action.)

The purr of the engine faded into the distance
As we walked on, wishing that
This night would
Never end.

The dome above crowned by a single crescent moon.
Misty skies blew on winds that teased our hair.
Faint headlights from a couple of cars
Chased each other against the bricked walls of my flat.

The void deck was dimly lit,
Only our shadows and voices for company.

Not even the black kitten that I saw so often
Was in sight.
Time was ours to be trapped in,
Even if it meant only that few minutes.

Your arms hooked around my waist
And mine encircled your neck
And all at once, with no inkling of how it started,
Or who initiated it,
Our lips touched.
It was a thousand feelings all at once,
A kind of passion that morphed into sweet vulnerability,
Intense desire that led to an unspoken truth
Which turned back into more thirst and fervor.
And above all,
Bliss.

Pulling apart, I realised that
It was only less than a minute
But it felt like a lifetime.

By hearsay, people often reveal what they really want to say
Only at the last few minutes that they spend together.

Perhaps all that we wanted to tell each other,
Was in that kiss.

15 minutes to midnight,
I lost a fraction of myself to you
And won a part of you to make myself whole again.