• I Would Cry, If Not For the Ending

    When your father slapped me
    Across the face, and I
    Smiled,
    I hope I didn’t offend,
    But I was so thankful for his
    Welcome.

    You’re a different woman now.

    The darkness we once feared is in you.
    Your eyes are less open.
    They gaze like hawks at the world.

    The mistakes I forgave once,
    I laugh at
    Holding to.
    I am so happy.
    I would do it all again,
    You still don’t want that as your light
    Fingers rest on mine,
    Your back on my chest,
    Your shampoo in my nostrils.

    The city is a black, gleaming expanse before us in the
    Artificial glow
    Of so many human machines.
    Before, I would have tried to conceal.
    You would have pulled away.

    You are within a wedge of glass,
    Your fingers paint pictures on the walls and ceiling
    That you have built alone.
    I walk behind you and fill in the
    Space.
    You let me be your
    Fourth Wall.