October 24, 2005

The untruth

You told me I was a hurricane, once;
sucking people up out of their lives
like frogs from their cool, happy creekbeds
and dropping them, shaken, somewhere hopeful and bright.

You told me I felt as natural as rain,
like soap on your damp body.
You said I left you cool but sweet;
I was proud of the traces me on your skin.

You watched my eyes burn but didn't tell me I was beautiful.
I forgot what to do when a man doesn't say that.
Each day you cleared your throat and didn't say it
I blinked and began to believe I was gone.

You called me a contradiction one day at the fair,
pointing out in my hair the chewed pencil that held it,
then breathing softly on the silver and diamonds
embedded proudly in each of my ears.

You said I spoke like a shotgun at three in the morning
after our talk left me pale and raw,
and I envied your aim; your sharpshooter hand so steady
it almost didn't hurt as I bled birdshot words.

You watched my eyes burn but didn't tell me I was beautiful.
I forgot what to do when a man doesn't say that.
Each day you blinked, cleared your throat and didn't say it
drove me closer and closer to gone.

You watched my eyes burn.
For you I was beautiful,
but I'd forgotten what to do when a man says that.

That day I didn't blink,
and when you finally said it

I was gone before you cleared your throat.

6 comments:

Mrs. Dalloway said...

Left me shaken! Lovely! So am doing a wow-wow-wow!!!

Billy Jones said...

I'm glad I found you. I added you to the aggregator at Poetsarus.com.

Drew said...

Have you considered selling your lyrics, er, poems to Saves the Day? They'd definitely be interested. That's a good thing!

Anonymous said...

hope you don't mind if I link this to the guy I need to break up with...

Erin said...

I love that Billy linked to this and gave me the opportunity to find it. The simplicity of language is perfect for the subject. Evocative enough without being sappy, and subtly cutting. Love the ending, very nice.

Trebuchet said...

Thanks, all. Feedback is always welcome -- I didn't expect it to be so positive! :)