the missionary and the dervish

she’s elderly
I’m only aged
seventeen years
between us
we knew upon
first meeting
we’d be fine friends
missionary emeritus,
retired dervish
antipodal beliefs?
not so—
on our separate paths,
broken, wounded
flayed open by our lives
both ran aground,
set up bivouac
and stayed—
love won

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.