In my defense
I thought it was someone else
as I opened my arms to embrace her
when she called my name
that spritely Spring day.

I was only offering a hug
because I thought that was the action
she would take
– the she I thought she was,
not the she she turned out to be,
you see.

In the moment, she seemed to recoil
and I recognized who she really was
and she said her name
like I didn’t know who she was
(which I guess I didn’t, until then)
and I said, “Yes of course,”
and I took her lead
and shook her hand
and her response to
“What are you doing here?”
made less sense
because she wasn’t coming
from hundreds of miles away
like I’d thought.

It’s not like I’d never hugged the she
she turned out to be before.
I don’t know why she blanched
when I approached her.
Why’d she have to make it weird?