THE FRAGILE LINE

 

I don’t mean to confuse you,

Or twist your thoughts in knots.

I don’t mean to capture your heart,

Or soothe the ego that you’ve brought.

I’ve told you—my heart belongs to him,

A love that overflows and fills my core.

Yet, still, my body craves your touch,

An ache I cannot choose to ignore.

I love the way my body knows you,

How I can simply be myself,

The way you stare when we’re in conversation,

And how your laughter lights my shell.

I can talk to you about anything,

But still, my heart remains apart.

I give you my body, yet he holds the strings

Of the deeper pull within my heart.

I give you pleasure because he has my time

You get the fantasy, while he gets my life.

But I know you, too, have your own world,

And so, I draw this fragile line.

So take me as I stand before you,

Incomplete without your touch,

Incomplete without his love,

In your own ways, you both complete me.

I BEG YOU by Laban Erapu

I beg you,

If you feel something like love for me,

Not to let me know it now

When I feel nothing so certain for you-

Wait until you’ve conquered my pride

By pretending not to care for me.

I beg you,

If you think your eyes will give you away,

Not to give me that longing look

When you know it will force the moment-

Wait until our heartbeats have settled

Then put your head on my shoulder.

I beg you

Not to let us surrender to passion

Until our liking has grown to love:

Let’s stop and look back,

Let’s draw apart and sigh,

Let’s stand back to back,

Let’s say good-bye for the day

And walk our different ways

Without pausing to wait

For an echo to our last word.

I beg you,

If you find yourself interlocked

In my embrace,

To kiss me and keep silent

Before I start making promises

That time may choose to byepass-

Wait until our hands are free,

Then listen to me;

Wait until our love is primed,

Then give me your hand.

MY 3-LEGGED TABLE

I am such a creature of comfort, it's painful,

Living with familiar things, worn and faithful,

My three-legged table, broken but by my side,

New ones call, but they can't replace our history.

Repairing it is a dream denied,

But I find comfort in its lopsided grace,

You might think I'm a hoarder, but I only keep what I need,

Each possession chosen with care, a piece of my soul.

In their presence, I find rare solace,

Discarding them would leave a gap,

I cling to my flawed table; it's mine,

In its imperfection, I find love.

So here I stay, with my three-legged table,

A creature of comfort in a rushed world,

In its fragile balance, I cherish the past,

And the memories it holds.

FADED FLAME

 Anxious, nervous, not sure why this time around,

I know our dance, but nerves are all I've found.

Distance dulled the fire that once burned our souls,

Now, you stand before me; something’s just not right.

I try to remember, but memories blur and fade,

Hopeful, our bodies recall the passion we once indulged in.

I’m anxious for you, for the path to become clear,

Longing for your touch, for you to draw near.

Maybe I longed for you too much, too long,

Entering your world, feeling half right, half wrong.

I want to tease you, but the spark seems lost,

Three times the charm, but all we got was to three.

The distance in the sheets, evident and stark,

Waking up next to you but missing the spark.

Maybe it was a mistake to rehearse the past year,

Maybe fantasies should’ve stayed where they were, 

Perhaps this moment was meant to close the door,

On a romance that no longer makes our spirits soar.

Maybe we just weren’t in sync, not meant to last,

A chapter now closed, leaving the past in the past.