It is but a moment out of the wind
to catch my breath and collect my thoughts.
I promised myself that I would return,
and I know that I will
lured by the music and the women.
It is all too sweet not to go back.

But in this instant of sanity, this moment of clarity
I long for you,
I long for you and me, together in this silence
our bodies saying things
that our mouths could not admit to one another.
But you are not here.

My arms are empty, and I have nothing to show
for all the words that I have spilled over you.
No one to keep me company in this quiet, lonely room.
No one to hold me in this tiny, empty bed.

I will return to the storm upstairs,
smiling and laughing all the while.
But before I go,
I imagine for an instant that somewhere
you're thinking of me.
In that brief moment the smile I wear
is as genuine as my feelings for you.

AcB 9.29.00