The Smile That Binds

Okay, this one's brand new, and loosely based on experience:

Today-my very first day

In a world unknown;

The flag-off of my foray

Into a life alone.

Foreboding darkens my mind:

What is to be my fate?

I'd left the nest far behind,

Would my wings bear my weight?

The fear within my heart

Is shared by others too,

Each of them at the start,

Each without a clue.

My roving eyes rest upon

The quiet girl beside me:

More frightened and forlorn

Than I could ever be.

We're close enough to share the air,

Yet with an ocean in between:

The gleam of oil on her hair,

On mine, a shampooed sheen;

I hail from a land of fat purses

And she, from a verdant one;

Lives in alien universes,

Beneath the same sky and sun.

I feel ashamed; apologetic

Of my well-fed body;

Hers is lean and athletic-

Her clothes make mine look bawdy.

All differences disappear

As my eyes meet hers,

In them, I see the thrill, the fear,

The same tumultuous universe.

And then, to my utmost surprise,

She flashes me a grin,

As if she too, saw in my eyes

The same turmoil within.

A shaft of light; of strength: it streams

Through our kindered minds,

United in our secret hopes;

In a smile that binds.