The Dance of Near and Far

The Dance of Near and Far

Flirting to draw near, joking to deflect
I still don’t quite know which way is up.
You know better than I do
when to cut the crap
and go with honesty
You go so far as to say out loud
that you wanted to take my hand
I change the subject
start nattering on about the American inability
to deal with grief
(I sure know how to kill a moment)
I feel paralyzed
Aching for intimacy
fighting the flight instinct
Still stuck in the groove in my brain
that I etched with his name

But it is in this moment that everything is reborn
Only now, only thus
You step lightly from my doorstep
my lips are dry
and I feel the solid ground
racing 66,500 miles per hour
beneath my feet.