If at first I had seen you as a still-life Of passing interest, in one of those restaurants With heightened pretensions of the eclectic: culture in a can You would have remained void of deepness, to me: A face half-hidden behind a menu, buzzing neon lights behind your head Faintly visible enigmatic eyes, above the hors-d'oeuvres list Some inaudible small talk with another person, A casual tabloid easily forgotten.
If I had noticed you while you were working You would have seemed another skilled contractor or employee; The answer key to the solution I was seeking, though I might have paused Long enough to suppose you wise, well educated: noble In the struggle, perhaps wondered if you were always this serious Even if not on someone's time-clock or your own pay roll Maybe I would have thought you had a quizzical expression, or questioned If I had imagined that wariness which seemed to hide behind an easy smile.
Instead, you've drawn me closer in, only toward you- Pulled me in with no touch, not a glance, nor hushed voice With only your words, your wit and keen intuition, against which I've no sort of defense, no sophisticated angle of attack And words can promise all, or nothing; or simply imply a supposed future Towards which we might have been running backwards All this time, while caught up in thinking that eventually We would be arriving at some place completely different.