~
If I am treason,
it’s you I kiss.
If I am desertion,
it’s you I blame.
If I am persuasion,
it’s you I rob.
And when we kiss dutifully,
smile in simile,
just whose road of promise
will it be?
If I am steep,
it’s your future I will not climb.
If I am winter sky,
it’s your way out beclouding.
If I am compromise,
it’s your eyes that hold no conviction.
And when we drift apart in apathy,
evade with euphemisms,
just whose road of decline
will it be?
If I am consternation,
it’s your dream driven away.
If I am turbulent sea,
it’s your ship high upon waves of doubt.
If I am fruition,
it’s your tomorrow that is sunk.
And when we drink to this tragedy,
get drunk on alliterations,
just whose road of surrender
will it be?
~
Written March 27, 1996