#long poems

in my mind’s eye, you’re frozen
in time, in place
not even revolving, never evolving

taxidermied, preserved, stuffed

until the next time we meet,
face to face
and you ask me to reassure you,
learn you all over again

this time:
i see you

you look soft and spiky,
like a tumbleweed
happier drifting with the wind
and your thorns
but when you latch on
to your chosen rock,
they’re stuck with you,
more often than not…

because you’re endearing,
as much as you’re wearying.

again, you ask me to reassure you
i hear you

you said: i’m ready to bloom
and i said: let me take a step back,
and you can have the room
and i wait
it seems i’m always waiting on you
to let go, to latch on
to latch on to me, preferably…
ha!

instead, i see you grow
i hear you, and i know

it’s my problem, not yours
but
i’d like to cultivate my roses, too
and i can’t do that
if i’m letting you still my room,
waiting on you to see me
and the space that i need.