Then the lights go out and it's just the three of us
You me and all that stuff we're so scared of.

I.
Chicago is only two hours away.

In that time I have determined the meaning of love
is not red roses.
It is being caught in the grasp
of a city with big shoulders
covered with the sweat of temperate toil
and not knowing a better heaven.

Unfortunately, you need white light to see this.

II.
Those beaches were an age ago
and I have grown.
I do love the water and I did love you.
I wanted to try
but it is not enough.
There is too much distance to travel
even when you’re right next to me.

III.
I need to keep the passion alive
but I don’t know how.
Phone sex is too tacky
and it would mean more talk.
I was never good with words.

I never quite knew how to speak to you
or say anything meaningful at all.

IV.
I promised you a phone call and a poem.

I called you and read an ode to dreams
that you scrawled during the honeymoon.
You laughed at the sappiness but promised me
you meant every word.
I mean it when I say that I am no goddess
and you are no god
but we are each others’ paradise.

That’s a sweet notion to take to sleep.
Let it work when awake.

11/11/2002

Author's Note: Italicized lines are from Bruce Springsteen's "Tunnel of Love."

Posted on 07/04/2007
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