Familiar Strangers

there is more to love than love
because love will fade and yet
there is the remaining
we stay in relationships that
have lost definition, clarity, and passion
we don't feel apathy or hate
we have no clue what we feel
we know something is over
but we don't want to leave
-
we don't know when
where, how, why the changes came
one day we simply realized they did
we don't recognize ourselves, our partners
still, we aren't seeking dissolution
we are steadfast, not out of duty
but because there is something deeper
something perhaps, morbidly beautiful
-
our hearts, our minds
confused and bewildered
inexplicability battles spontaneous rage
we cannot explain this mystification 
we are unsure, the why of the fury
we look at a stranger, we are the stranger
but in our unknowing there is
some peculiar sense of identification
-
i've seen you somewhere before
do we know each other?
there is a comfort in this deja vu
a foreshadowing of rediscovery
perhaps the peace in the proverbial
eye of the storm
God knows we have known chaos
this sense of calm amidst forgotten familiarity
what is it?
more than love...