Should I think of you?
It feels a betrayal;
A jinx on the very thing I covet.
To wish you well, but wish you mine,
And a million other contradictions.

You shine softly like etched brass,
But still I feel the need to
Roughen your surface so paint will stick.

It is poetically just that my
Cynical, Machiavellian discouragement
Only made you dream harder,
Move further away.

But if I let you near enough
To weigh my brilliance and my flaws,
You would not still adore me.
Distance is self preservation.

Thought and dream being my only options,
And me, with so little self control…
What brightness I have
Is just the glow of that kindling,
Softly, so that I can still see you
Shining all the way out here.

I am close as a wish, tight as a dream
That won’t let go, present as
The essence of you that fills
The cracks of my carelessness…

And yet I am disposable:
Transient as foliage; falling
Only to be replaced with new growth.

02/01/2016

Author's Note: My first ever poetical collaboration, years after Anita first asked me. A most enjoyable and satisfying experience. Thank you, Anita. :)

Posted on 02/26/2016
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