you're the greatest gift
thankful
how could I ever repay you

I love you
you don't take it seriously

why can't we say I love you anymore

do you not trust me
that's on me

I know
I come and go

I'm begging please trust me when I say
I won't hurt you

hurts me more when you don't

why can't I say I love you
felt so wrong the first time I did
felt like it went to waste

you came along
we haven't met in so long
still the same too nice you can't runaway

do you not consider me
even as a friend

beautiful stranger
fall into my arms
I beg you please
believe me

a door closes
and I hear him

shuffling down the hallway
his wife of sixty-six years

my mother
asleep, almost invisible

beneath the blankets
as fragile as a baby bird

he stops to wind
the grandfather clock

smiles and nods
“I smell that coffee”

ninety years-old
and still "up-and-at-em”

pills to ration
a newspaper to fetch

dishes to put away
meanwhile

back in their room
dreaming

she remembers
everything

standing by his side
she turns to meet his eyes

Tom Spencer © 2019

It's not you,
It's magic.
It's not me,
It's your face.
Break up,
then break down.
Stab yourself ,
And then frown.