-



Dismiss my wandering eyes
They’re catching a drape, not you
They’re creeping along a cobblestone sidewalk
Not you



Dismiss my clamping cough
It’s there because the Spring is not good to me
It’s not there because you are good to me
Which, you always are, have I mentioned



It will not stop here
In, of all places, a little side-street pub
Where we both always seem to be
At the same time



It will not just stop
Like a chamber orchestra after a
Long night of tuning and unreal sound
Where outside it’ll flow



Ignore the tone of my voice
When it shifts up, it stays up
I won’t drop it for you, not until
You drop it first



And you get closer to where I am
One less stool between us every day
And nobody notices
But the people who sat in them, those air people



And I’m certainly not kidding when
I beg you to tell me things
Like the ghosts between us
Are only shapes of us



Tell me we’re all the same
Little lobsters in a tank
Clawing at water
We’re the same



Tell me I was always too nice
To confront a total stranger
And ask
The greatest question of all



-