Half smile held
for the length of one spiel
humoring the gap
between sur and reality
victim of sweet words
gone vacant
Wouldn’t it be nice
to wind up in love
sans annecdotes
to turn up on their couch
in time for the third act
smiling at what is to come
Slow hell of waiting
till again
heart comes around
displaced just so
I could pretend happy
at your expense
If we’re lucky
we’ll wind up family
tolerable
to each other
in small stretches
with what love remains
A distraction of your caliber
would be lovely tonight
different than all other nights
in that soon it will be done
Infrequent remorse
is my favorite way to put it
occasional life lived occasionally
our timeline laid to rest
There’s no pride in forgetting
no prize in losing you
just some small satisfaction
that you were here at all
Half measure of humanity
till I can stomach whole
return to indifference
a few years down the road
You’re welcome
to what remains
less morose
than might be imagined
less than what was
Several stories sold
still unfinished
I like to hope
pages I’d add
tucked in the margins
my diary deleting itself
I tried telling you once
I’d forget you
but it came out as love
a truth
told in two tales
both written by me
There’s no substance
in a name
till it finds ink
no sense of loss
till it stains your hands
Discordant twang
snapped string in minor key
one of those love songs
where the guitar cuts in
only to remind you it’s there
and there it is
We can’t play it again
till there’s a stage
and an audience
a lonely two who want more
of that specific misery
half remembered till whole
When I fall out of love
I’ll let you know
circuitous courtesy
you might believe
Damnable offer
distant from the delirium
of time spent together
pretending we were not
It ends with words
that no one wants
a promise to placate
mutually absent desire
Wake with love
but once
mourning those dreams
that couldn’t know
Future heartbreak
of second pillow
small price
paid too often
Enough time will pass
dreams docked in down
drowned grief
in happy delusion
Time enough
to forget a name
remember a feeling
and find another you
