Now and Then: Only a Friend

Only a Friend

I had dream that I was
Somebody else
Somebody not like myself
Somebody not so fortunate…

* * *

Bleaching the blood out from your shirt
Figured you long gone
Good to see you, for what it’s worth
Hunched on the dryer
Feet dangle like two boys fishing
Tryin’ to cast over the fallen trees
That one night’s happenings

But now is now and then is then
Why are you doing this?
You know how it will end
The choices of my life, I have no need to defend
I wish you were only a friend
I wish you were only a friend

A bare arm leans against a bare arm
Don’t change the subject
Yes, I’m happy with what I’ve got
But you see right through it
See their cancer, it dammed my thirst
From the slow death of suburbia
You wonder who was beaten worse

Remember, you showed me how to bend?
Why are you doing this?
You know how it will end
Damn the audacity of "what might have been"
I wish you were only a friend
I wish you were only a friend

Did you let me win for old time’s sake?
Did you go quiet
Fearing all that’s left to say?
Seen through the screen door
Bleached white cotton filters gray
From garbage truck to children’s bikes
Americana wears its shades

Why can’t you just let me pretend?
Why are you doing this?
You know how it will end
And now to see you out there on the mend
I wish you were only a friend
I wish you were only a friend

* * *

I had dream that I was
Somebody else
Somebody not like myself
Somebody not so fortunate…
And when I awoke
I kissed the woman next to me
And I touched the wedding ring
That of
The dream can only dream
The dream can only dream…
The dream can only dream




October 8, 2006