When did those little boy arms
that ran to me
full of joy and laughter
and wild abandon
straight into my arms
unquestionable love
when did those little boy arms become
strong enough to hold me
and save me?

when my heart bled words
I couldn’t voice
somehow you found them
in my garden or somewhere near
wherever I had dropped them
picked them up
and made sense of them
returned them to me
late night
in a song
I  had never heard before
until your voice made
perfect sense of me.

the power of us
the joy of us
the precious of us
the pure good of us
the easy of us
the lovely of us
the worth of us
the best of us
has somehow
become lesser
tangled
confused
and lost
somewhere deep in
the complicated and confused effort of
trying to be
just the two of us .


but still
I’m going nowhere
pour me another song
and I’ll sing you another heartache!

when you came
to take me home I
went willingly
took your hand
easily
then you made
too many left turns
led me down
too many
blind alleys
left me more lost
that I was before
you came and said
let me take you
home.
I am safe
and so are you
you are home.

I am leaving now
my love
and I will leave my heart with you
safekeeping
for better days
no longer can I stay.

we speak the same language
yet can’t understand
a single word
we are trying to say
to each other.

I knew myself better
when I wore
another man’s
clothes