Faking Patience

Proud of him for pursuing
his passion - full of skill
The more pages that I read
the more I wonder how long

Conflicting thoughts ruminate
How much should I give?
Are we set up for failure?
Could we somehow make it work?

Not officially “a couple”
he wants my eyes to wander
But I can't take the bait -
don't want to sink that hook

Then I wonder ‘bout others
whether or not they exist
I want to say, “Go have them,
come back to me if you miss.”

If he doesn't come back
I'll know I can move on
But, what if he does?
How long can I play along?

And so I'm stuck here spinning
trying to be patient
avoiding thoughts of the future
so he doesn't break me

NOTE: I found a poem he wrote a couple of years before we met and thought it might be fun to have it side by side this poem I wrote. Enjoy!

Love Boat by Evan Exempt

She yearned to be loved
He lived to be missed
The mind can’t command what the heart can’t resist

In a blindfold of trust,
bound by truth at the wrists,
she stepped off the plank when he sank the first kiss

Now her heart is an anchor
in a lightless abyss
reaching downward eternal —
no bottom to hit

And she curses herself
for her own foolishness
to fall blind for a man
whose eyes blaze and tongue twists…

And as he sailed off into the sunrise, he sang:

“See, my flag bears a heart for there’s none in my chest
And every new day there’s a girl I forget
Only empty chests float when they’re cast from the ship
where they yearn to be loved
and I live to be missed”

Then one day he spied land:
A white beach they called Bliss
So, he anchored
and swam to the shore
And his eyes went alight
when he stood to behold
treasure chests of a hundred or more!

“I am rich!” he proclaimed
and took task at one latch
rusted stiff by the salt of the tide
Then by knife and by stone,
the chest opened at last,
but alas, there was nothing inside

And each subsequent chest
was as such treasureless,
as he smashed at the latches
and pried at the lids

Screaming curses eternal
into waves of regret—
so deserving a fellow
of a fate such as this

But his madness subsided
Fatigue thenst prevailed
like the weight of the water
from the miles he’d sailed

And the sea looked aglow
from the Isle of Bliss
Hearts alight for that bastard
who lived to be missed