.
Sadness drapes my shoulders
in black clouded blisters
dropping hazy shadows
at a bus stop called nowhere
Blank stare passengers
read out of date magazines
as I sit on the first step
tossing quarters at pigeons
having bird *** in the park

I watch as my fingers twist around
a kite string seeking merely a breeze,
arctic or otherwise to drag me down
the potholed one way street
that leads past your door
Skinned knees and a bruised heart
outline the address where
I once felt welcome,
at least the mat said so

When I hear my name called
over barking dogs and lawn mowers
in need of tune up
and as I look above the silhouette
of the man I used to be
I see myself, choking on his dreams
in a "deliveries only" alleyway
littered with false destinies
and realize I am home

I had met tears by chance
I can't recall how or when it all started
My heart felt sick
My eyes just surrendered to this weird feeling
Water coming out
Slowly rolling down my cheeks
Gently caressing them
A little bit of it seeping through into my mouth
At first it kinda' stung me
A salty taste settling on my tongue
After a while though i got used to it
But little had i imagined at that point of time that these tears....
....these precious little diamonds would become my best friends
Now they have become more than friends
We are in fact soulmates now
Destined to be together
Whenever i need them they are always there for me...
....without fail they always come to my rescue
Whenever the strain on my soul gets too much
More often than not my eyes just let loose
And i give in to this weird and yet powerful feeling

From youth, not unlike the love
I received from my family, I surmised,
that extended love might be everywhere.
With artless, open arms and heart,
I embraced this simple notion.
In time, sadly this childish wish
was honed to a hard truth by maturation.

Friends and loves come
and go, fleeting in heart,
and committed soul.
Unreliably, flowing in and ebbing out,
like deep undulations of an ocean,
all too often with sneaker waves
that pull us under. Breakers pushing
our ship onto the rocks, in a sea
of shallow unfulfilled expectations.
Encounters becoming disappointment,
with too many frogs kissed.

My educated suspicion is,
beyond our family of blood kin,
Faithful canine love is the only
other "truly committed devotion"
we are likely to get.

In the end, that may well be enough.
Perspective wisdom can be a bitter lesson.