Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2013

I don’t write many love songs. This is one.

Sometimes I wake to watch you sleep
Moonlight eddied in your hair,
If I prayed I’d ask the gods to keep
You safe and to repair
All the damage I have done
And all I may ever do
And never let me wake up
In a world without you

I know how good my luck has been
How provisional it felt
When I was in the badlands
Like Teddy Roosevelt
There were times I wasn’t sure
I could ever make it clear
When I wasn’t sure I wanted to
I liked sleeping with my fear

Somehow you came and got me
Cleaned me up and set me straight
Took me in your little house
So I could recuperate
You helped me to unpack my heart
And throw the broken things away
We negotiated with my past
Then you let me stay

I fear there’s something wrong with me
I cannot eradicate
Some stupid male inconstancy
That makes me hesitate
Some blind white whale that now and then
Roils the waters of my core
But I swear I’m telling you the truth
I don’t do that any more

I’ve heard it said all writing
Is just a war upon cliché
But earnest words are all I have
There’s nothing I can say
Except I know the smooth curve of your hip
Like I know my very breath
I know you are my closest friend
And I will love you unto death …