Vexed

I was clumsy

I can admit it

too big for my britches

too hard to contain

too young, too wild to pin down

.

But I had my million dollar smile

so I got all toothy for you, babe

saw you coming

from across the western plains

shaking your tail

shedding your skin

.

But you weren't buying what I was selling

you saw two short arms

too short to hold you

and I'd never want to hold you back

so I left you to your own devices

bungled the intro

read the tree leaves

gave you your space

watched the skies for your return

believing you'd roam

back to my cave some sweet day

perhaps I'd entertain you

with an evening of ceiling art

.

Even then

I could read the writing on the wall

these paintings were never your style

I knew it in my bones --

I could never fuel

your heart's desires

.

seasons changed and time moved on

and you wandered the world

sowing your wild oats

until at last

as if by magic or human intervention

you came back

.

but by then

all my color had faded to gray

I was a fossil,

a hollow shell of my former self,

too old to try again

too set in my ways

.

you were the one who got away

for a long while I had wondered

what if

as I ogled the skies and imagined myself

more daring, willing and able to

follow your trail

all the way across Panacea

but even in my dreams

all I got was this lousy T-Rex tee shirt

and giant cloud of dust that mushroomed

overhead, shaking my very foundations

.

I survived

without you

for a time

wading through the muddy waters

not sampling the locals

eating from tree tops

til I could take no more

.

I tried it your way - herbivore -

to impress you

not wanting to deal with all the fall-out

but in my bones

I'm an omnivore, babe,

so I rattled them bones and buried you

in my way back when, dropped you like a stone,

like you were so Paleozoic

.

but every now and then I see you dance across my mind

like you were

the beginning and the end

of all things

_______________

Copyright © 05/14/2024 by Christy Munson. All rights reserved.