archetypes (3)

Posted on by Beleaguered Servant

that night, they celebrated by
a few good drinks, a long good cry,
and sharing something like a bed
when they should have gone home, instead.

that morning, they surveyed the mess
that’s born of gin-and-loneliness,
from separate vantage points and hearts
that knew the fits that come

with starts

Vulnerable

Posted on by Beleaguered Servant

How hard the moments are, in life,
When we are vulnerable, exposed;
The doors which we approach, concerned
That we’ll forever find them closed

How strange the heart. It strives and yearns
For others: striving, yearning, too;
The look that freezes, touch that burns —
To strive is all that we can do

Because we know the chance is there
To turn the troubled times to glad:
And we can’t know today when there
Will be no other chances

To be had

couple, leaning

Posted on by Beleaguered Servant

you tell me that you’re diff’rent and
you’re not like other guys;
that is what all guys always say,
so far, it’s all been lies

but, hey – you laid on the line,
i guess that i will, too —
you go the speed i say we’ll go,
and i’ll spend time with you

but you will have to prove to me
that this ain’t all for fun:
if you’re just in it for the hunt
i swear
i’ll break
your gun

MIssed Connection

Posted on by Beleaguered Servant

He liked her
And she liked him
But —

She was afraid
Of being used physically
By a man
Who wasn’t really interested in her
Emotionally.
She thought:
That’s just what men do

He was afraid
Of being used emotionally
By a woman
Who wasn’t really interested in him
Physically.
He thought:
That’s just what women do

And they each interpreted the other’s actions
As proving their own theories

Even though they both liked each other
Physically
And
Emotionally

5 Times 5

Posted on by Beleaguered Servant

One last time:
She was the maid-of-honor, I
Was organist.
She stopped to ask me
How I’d been since graduation, she
Was now engaged, the wedding in a year.

But I’d been sick, and she
Could tell, much thinner, covered up in clothes,
As summer wedding: no real time for layers.

“You don’t look well,” she said.
“I haven’t been.”
“Can I ask what’s wrong?”
“If they knew, then I would, too.”

Out on the deck, beside the bay,
Just minutes from the fishing bridge,
But I recall like yesterday
Her, wearing that red hat.

I got an invitation later, but
Poor health prevented me
From going to her wedding, or
To work, or anywhere at all.

There is no moral to this story:
She moved on, and so did I,
And slowly age will cover up
These times we shared,

For all they were

Were times

5 Times 4

Posted on by Beleaguered Servant

It ended; she’d met someone else,
And I was not that broken up.
It turns out he was there, out at
Her parents’.

A neighbor, in her old hometown,
Marine now, tall and rangy guy —
And we were friends again,
The way that goes.

I’d see her: music theory class,
Her headphones on, as
Beautiful as ever, but,
I too had felt something lacking, it was weird.

I should have moped, and raged, and stormed;
Instead, I dated someone else,
Who I liked far, far better
Within weeks.

Relationships, like interviews
Turn into something, or they don’t.
This one lasted several months, then
Died its death, and

No one really mourned

5 Times 3

Posted on by Beleaguered Servant

I walked into her parents’ house just
Two days after Christmas;
I’d made the strange four hour drive
To see her in that place —

Her parents were the sweetest, nicest people.
I was her “new boyfriend”
And I met fifty relatives, it felt like;
All these names and faces, it was quite bewildering.

And later, after dinner, we
Sat down beside the Christmas tree;
She told me I looked tired, and
We went up to a room

Where I would soon be sleeping.
We had never slept together;
I know it’s not that cool, but
It’s my truth, and so I tell it here.

Then when we kissed goodnight, I felt
A longing in her, something new;
I didn’t and I couldn’t guess
What she was thinking, but

I soon found out