life is so complex
that keeping it simple
takes a lot of work

He was a man who stopped time
stretch a second in love
as much as he wanted

This was not the case
for Saturday traffic
he left before she got there

Sitting at the corner table
she ordered a cup of coffee
-for here-
in case he returns for that napkin
that napkin inscribed in chocolate

"I waited, you never got here
this flower is yours, if it's alive
when you find it
water it"

She did and drove home
against traffic with just a note
and a flower

Oh, if only the man that stops time
could also take care of traffic!

to sit across from you, conceding
thoughts
sprinkled with cookies of a rare chocolate chip type

looking on
as you take a last bite
and time
jealousy strikes the clock

-we must move on-

Yet I cannot deny
an Ode to that little piece
hated and adored at once

that one piece that soft
so quietly crumbled
from your lips
without reaching mine

sweetness tasted
of an imagined first kiss
in the flight of thought
and time

I make no claim
that I have life figured out

I simply live life
trying not to let it
not to let it live me
and take all the bows
while I'm sitting idle

its music a tune
that I did not write
request or handpick
so I count the steps
try to learn the lyrics
and show up in a gown
of pearls and sequins

I dance the dance
although once in a while
our toes will pay dearly
causing distance and pause
but I cannot stop
abandon its side
leaving the dance floor
before the last song

I am a solitary thought
toiling
to anchor down the heart
struggling
to keep
all sails in place
compass intact
and so I brace
as wind and current
take your side
slanting the heart