Saturday, September 25, 2010

Something Like a Love Poem

Something Like a Love Poem
 
That's what we do.
We fail to come through.
No voiceover narrator keeps score.
I know I told you to count on
my adoration.
In shame, I lose your face
slip away from every trace
that you once gave me.
Anonymous streets, single tables
dark cafes, jukebox blues
I done me wrong
Funk up that song, white boy
as if you taste the craters of
my soul.
Like you, I've learned everything
I know
from late night movies
lyrics on pre-dawn radio.
No one at home has time to do
more than pretend we're all just fine.
How was I to learn more than my lines?
That promises have consequence?
That I am more than dreams
that don't come true?
A quiet stone cottage
outlined by life-bearing 
pine, firs, maple, birch
nature's hues and cycles
my heart relaxes.
Meet me here.
You, with your piercing mind,
languid manner of movement,
voice like sunlit stream over
random pebbles and glass
I promise to listen.
I promise to breathe the fruit
of your nearness.
I have bargained for this chance
with all I am.
Before I ever saw my true face
I heard you cry
I felt the ripple of your laughter.

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