People We Once Knew

I can not leave and expect you to remain.
I return from a place
Far away
And find your face has changed.
Your nights are filled with laughter which is no longer mine.
And maybe that hurts for a moment,
But the reality is,
It's fine.
Sometimes I feel the sting,
Of being left behind.
But you weren't the one who disappeared.
Or drew the fine line.
I see you now,
In the streets
And we exchange a nod
But only in passing
As you laugh with your friends
My memories have moved on.
Now a new girl is by your side
And I hold tightly to the sanity in my mind.
And maybe one day,
We'll be friends again.
Or maybe one day we'll perfect the way we pretend
That we never hurt each other
And there's nothing there to mend.
I wonder,
Sometimes,
If I should be sad,
And mourn a thing
We might have had,
But the truth of the matter is,
I just want us both to be glad.
And that's a thing that didn't happen side by side
So that's a thing I put out of my mind.
And I'll nod to you now, in the streets.
And I'll smile at you,
Hoping your life now feels complete.
Because I can't leave a place
And expect you to remain
And I can't be surprised
That between us,
The happiness has finally drained.

Sincerely,
~Placebo Poet