Eventually, Always

---

Everything is darker at night

with you here 

beside me

sleeping 

      softly

         dreamfully

inches apart and miles away

it didn't used to be like this

my love

but here I am

staring at the ceiling

          the dark and starless 

ceiling 

and wondering

about the future

          the dark and starless 

future 

and pondering

whether love's flame always fades 

like a favorite song 

played a thousand times 

NO!

TEN thousand times

over and over and over

and yet

here I am again

on some other night 

staring at the same

goddamn ceiling

and remembering when 

it wasn't like this

when our bed was on fire

with lust and desire

I'm a little sad

thinking about it now

'cause I see it in your eyes

my love

(oh yes I do!)

as we rise from

this bed of cinders 

for another day 

        of that favorite song

for another decade 

        of that favorite song

for a lifetime 

        of that favorite song

heard so many times

and so many more to come

I guess we're in this together 

babe

there aint no way out

that I can see

only one way forward

we both agree

LET'S 

just 

NOT

THINK 

about 

it 

TOO 

MUCH

because if that happens 

we might finally know 

            WHY

     and 

           what 

                    good 

                           would that do?

———

PDW Falls Church, VA

August 2024