At Sunrise

And the man walked into my life,
Overturning firmly planted chairs,
Ripping pages from books I'd written,
Made his way to where I sat in curled fetal position
Watching him from behind my half-veiled eyes.

And he fell onto my bed grinning from ear to ear,
Told me his tragic tale, asked for my hand
(or a reasonable facsimile).
It's your destiny, little lady, spread out in the cards.
I looked inside in doubt and back at him,
And his eyes flashed enthusiastically,
Which was all it took at the time.

So, tell me, who are you now, sleeping by my side?
Restless in your sleep.
So tell me, who am I now, stroking your back?
Not asleep at all.
How can you, with mysterious magic,
With a gentle squeeze of my hand,
Make me forget all that I fear?

And now I remember that he will die to me —
Somehow, sometime, walk away for the last time.
With a casual glance and good-bye
Walk off into the distance and some other destiny
Of which I am no part.
I think I'll miss him and go my own way;
No regrets, I'll let him go.

Find her, man, go back where you belong.
Clear the sadness and uncertainty from your heart.
Remember me, someone you met along the way,
Who smiled and loved you just for today.

And if on some dark and lonely night
You return from some place out there,
I'll remember some of your meaningless words
Spoken only true for a moment back then,
And I'll respect you for the effort.
And hug you for old time's sake.

And I know it's just your traveling way:
What more do we need than to hold each other
When we need each other
And to let go when it's time to go away?

But here I am tonight waiting,
The time bomb ticking next to me when you laugh,
And you refuse to go (this time).
But you will, I know, so don't go too late.

So I turned to the man, opened, and let him in,
Let him stay a night (and then another...).
I fell asleep and dreamt of us as children,
Playing until exhausted on a long summer day.
Isn't that always the way?

© 2001 Koko Jaeger