i want to grow up next door from you
i want to be seven years old with you
i want to put band-aids on your
skinned knees

i want to meet you in a book store
i want to talk about poetry and art and trotsky
i want to buy you a book like i'm
buying you a drink at the bar

i want to sit next to you on the train
i want to make small talk about the weather
i want to lend you my coat and forget
to ask for it back

i want to be a field nurse
if you're a wounded soldier
i want to change your gauze
and sneak you extra meal rations

i want to be a bystander
talking you off the ledge
i want to lead you gently back into the world

i want to be careful with your heart

i want to love you softly and abiding