Love in Six Acts

Act One:  A Deal with the Devil

Deep blue eyes caught me on the brink.

Starting to sink,

I made a deal

To let myself fall,

Distraction from the pain,

A cynical calculated crush.

Next to your name in my phone I wrote "Beautiful."

Tears without explanation

You reeled me in, and

You kept your distance,

And you never once mentioned your boyfriend.

Act Two:  Translation

Summer transformed frost into melody

I am taken aback by how well you understand me

Plowing through songs, trying on lines,

Debating their merits, and trying not to

Notice the smooth curves of your sides.

A forgotten heart began to sing a new language.

And it was ours, and finally mine.

Freedom, passion, voices rise.

And mingle in a open sky.

Act Three:  The Fall

I entertained the idea of a kiss,

And that idea flowered into a near-obsession;

Just

a

kiss.

We just kept walking, tired.

Sat down by the stars streaming by

In the river below.

And I began to touch,

Longing for that kiss,

That thing you wouldn't give,
And I took your heart,

And your body in my hands.

Innocent you invited me to stay over;

I ran away, knowing my limits and afraid--

It's the hardest I've ran since the Garden State--

When I came back no one was home.

No one knows.

And it was then I realized we could probably

Never manage just friends.

And it was then I realized that I'm still the

Selfish man I've always been.

Act Four:  Forgiveness

We sat on opposite ends of the bench.

I know you had flashbacks to that night and maybe

You still do.

It was the end.  For the time being.

But you made me cry with the things you said.

And in the phone I changed beautiful to "forgave."

Act Five: 

Boundaries

There are things we don't talk about.

Things we don't say.

Lulls in the conversation where we look away.

Act Six:  More than Just Friends

Just friends...but when you smile

By my side on the mashrutka,

It's all I can do not to lean in for a kiss.

The ropes course, fearless you showed me a new side of you

And it keeps on coming,

Each day something new, after all this time,

How much more do I not know about you?

I decided to go to the mountains

To say good-bye, or perhaps to say

I didn't know how to.

I tried to explain all this,

You didn't care

You just wanted to be there.

So I put my arms around you,

Together in the twilight,

I think I could've let you go,

But then the men who followed us, the

Fear of losing you,
Was too much.

We decided to date.

A week later you said you never wanted to speak again

That wasn't true.

But the dating was done. 

And what now?

I guess I'm just thankful

That you're still around.

And maybe this time,

Now that we understand

We're not meant for marriage together

We're learning how to love