Someone Else

They always ask your name
at the local burger joint
up the street from my house.

Today I am Karen:

married with 2 children
a three car garage
a dog

Last week I was Sheryl:

a foreign exchange student from Hawaii
a $100,000 inheritance

They have no idea who you really are
and they call out "Karen" and look at you
waiting to find out if you'd like
regular mayo or low-fat.

And for just an instant you're someone else.

Liar

It's not you I'm trying to convince.

Showing up at all hours of the night and
leaving again before the last moan has
even escaped your lips.

So long lover.

See you next time.

Sitting on your window sill smoking cigarettes
draped in your bed sheet bare legs glistening
while you watch from across the room.

Examining me.

It was almost like love.

And you marvel at how I can still be so cold
no matter how heated and burning my body is
with you on top of it.

Trying to understand.

Figure me out.

But it's not you I'm trying to convince with my
insensitivity and absolute lack of emotion.

It's really just me.

Such a liar.

Rooftop Rendezvous

It was a warm summer night...

when you put your hands on me and
expressed with your body all of the things
that could not be put into words

We snuck away that night...

As we'd done so many times before
the stars were our quiet audience and
our red lips the only evidence of this

rooftop rendezvous.

Lucky

I tried to write you a letter tonight
an attempt to reach you
touch you.

"Lucky"
Bif Naked
Jack
Coke

But before I knew it
the jack had run out
the song was over.

And there was nothing on the page.

A Little Boy

Always a little boy to me...

An innocent smile, soft eyes, and a sensitive heart
that I've tried so hard to shelter with my own.

Tried with everything I had to protect it
from turning cold and hard and empty.

And the warmth of yours has melted mine at times
and reminded me what it's like to truly love.

And the tears that always fell so freely from your eyes
have washed over me and kept me human.

And my only wish each night is that you retain
your softness and innocence and someday...

Understand that if ever I was hard on you
it was all for the love of

a little boy.