Give up a thing
for the benefit
of a person -
call it respect or maybe
you're afraid that not
giving exactly
what is needed might
diminish how
important
a person is to you
when it's 2 a.m.
and in your lonely bed all you've got
is that you know
exactly what to do
and say so that
one person
understands that you are strong
enough to give up
a thing
and be needed
when it counts most.
When that thing,
you've given it up and
now get to be the
selfless one
(how lovely it is
to be so for
a person you respect),
when that thing is
love
then in your lonely bed all you've got
is a surety
of one person
and a you that
won't be yours
after all.
The thought finished at a seemingly perfect time,
as the end of a cigarette found its way to an earth
of concrete, at rest among good intentions living
in hearts across the sea of humanity nearby.
She walked again towards a door, then through it to
where that nice waitress had finally brought the drinks
and a friend told a joke she hadn't the heart to say
had been heard a hundred times before.
As long as there is laughter.
for the benefit
of a person -
call it respect or maybe
you're afraid that not
giving exactly
what is needed might
diminish how
important
a person is to you
when it's 2 a.m.
and in your lonely bed all you've got
is that you know
exactly what to do
and say so that
one person
understands that you are strong
enough to give up
a thing
and be needed
when it counts most.
When that thing,
you've given it up and
now get to be the
selfless one
(how lovely it is
to be so for
a person you respect),
when that thing is
love
then in your lonely bed all you've got
is a surety
of one person
and a you that
won't be yours
after all.
The thought finished at a seemingly perfect time,
as the end of a cigarette found its way to an earth
of concrete, at rest among good intentions living
in hearts across the sea of humanity nearby.
She walked again towards a door, then through it to
where that nice waitress had finally brought the drinks
and a friend told a joke she hadn't the heart to say
had been heard a hundred times before.
As long as there is laughter.
These words came jumping out
