King

Pressed against a memory of you, 
I asked you wondrously to understand my youth 
You unfolded like a caterpillar trapped 
Within a falling leaf
In autumn.

Summers we were cradled in tomorrow’s incorporeal salute
Listening to your favourite song 
You thought I’d never like it, 
But did you know how many times I listened through?

For seven months I have been drilling 
Happiness tutorials with my conscience’s demons 
The night you showed up to my door with flowers 
Looking painfully attuned 

But did you ever think it funny 
That I gave you unencumbered truth 

When you said you the word was meaningless to you

You said I was your only taste of spellbound conversation
Nothing to compare it to
You wondered whether it should always be charades of me and you

And when I sought an explanation over piles of vermouth
You said I’d taught you how to comprehend a sunset
But I was not supposed to be a set of private lessons  
Caught up in philanthropy without a charge to you 

If we have such a great connection why won’t you just pick up the phone 

One morning you might wake up to a melody of opportunities not taken 
Hypothetical adventures, 
Experiences never tasted 
One night stands with putrid girls who will never give a damn for you 

You might even meet a girl who thinks endearingly of you
And who am I to sit here livid over your imagination?
And how was I to know that you had thought it funny 
When I brought up our routine adventures 
And you said you’d miss them too?

But when you showed up to my door with flowers 
Were you surprised that no one else had done it, too? 

Time couldn’t go by quicker 
But you couldn’t get there slower 

Goodbye is just another inconsiderate absence
Cloaked up in a handkerchief of cowardly decisions 
And when I knit a quilt of happiness made of our imperfect ruse 
Don’t you say that you don’t see it too! 

I’ll pick you up the next time that you falter 
And when you’re fast asleep I’ll pierce your juvenile dreams
Beneath this skyline stricken with the immolating stars
You’ll see your wispy shadow dancing with my steadfast hope

Within the kingdom of corporeal fancy I’ll watch you crown me as your queen 
And like a wearied Viola I’ll take my place on patience’s monumental throne 
You will take the detours on your way to the finish
Because by then you will have learned to sprint 
Painfully aware that I might find the gumption just to leave you 

But I’ll be screaming loudest from the stadium 
Frenzied in the vein of some Olympic youth 
Betting all my sanity on our eventual truce
Bound up in a promise and a golden ring for you
Waiting for the day that you’ll admit you love me too