A Difference

She noticed a difference in you.

She who has known
you most of her life,
growing up around you,
greeting you every Sunday.

Eyes wide, lips
shocked round,
she thought you
were seeing someone,
you were so vibrant.

I have not been blind...

She noticed a difference in you.

3 Dreams

1.
bone-warming summer day.
we walk across a parking lot
to a truck.
without word, without glance,
your broad strong hand
clasps mine with firm surety.

2.
bustling about cleaning
you are too tired
to awaken at my domestic clatter.
napping on the sofa
you are as peaceful as a child.
I can resist no longer
kissing your sleep-smooth brow.

3.
hidden under the desk
I'm repairing a drawer.
you kneel, reaching for tape,
face inches from mine.
eyes lock, then you bend
to softly kiss my ear
and wispy strand of hair.
someone's coming,
you turn and walk away.

J.A.S.

When you grin you wash the
worry right out of my heart.
On dark and worrisome winter days
you smuggle sunshine in your pockets
lighting the blue sky of your eyes.
You've made me a sailor's sweetheart:
I watch the window with worry
until you sail safely home again.

Branded Lonely

I stand accused
of loneliness
as if it were
a permanent
and terminal
condition.

"Don't go with him
just because you're lonely!"
they say
in the same manner
they say
"Don't play basketball
just because you're tall!"

Even if the diagnosis is correct
why steer me from the cure?

Mama Says

Mama says:

"Wait for someone
who deserves you."

Yet
I look inside
and my soul
crawls
to think of what
could deserve
the Gordian knot
of me.

What
grace or blessing or joy
lies in recieving
what we deserve?

I know I don't
deserve you
and cannot
fathom
the concept of
whether or not
you deserve me.

I
only know
that caution is
killing me
inch by inch.

I'll
regret only
things I didn't
do,
every opportunity
I missed
with
you.

Dodging Arrows

He comes
uninvited
everytime
dragging his muddy boots
on your clean rug.
He grabs your
last soda,
plops on the sofa and
cranks up the game.

Don't let the propaganda fool you:
Cupid
is a boorish fellow,
obviously unobservant,
often mischevious.

Poets paint
it rosy but
Love
is a trying,
desperate,
inconvenient
emotion.

I
love
you
and
know
not
why.

I try
to reason
with Cupid but
he just grunts
and turns up the game,
uncaring,
as my
heart
falls flat
at your
sidelong glance.