By Mirabeau
Date: 29 September 2000
I Think I'd Like To Stay
You asked me to look in your eyes
While they were still clear,
and you spoke those words gentle like
more afraid of what they meant to me
then what it might cost you.
You said that when the time came
you would just go off
and carry my kiss
while you could remember it's sweetness,
and who I was,
and who you were---
and goodbye would mean
for always.
And I knew you were afraid
and hated yourself for it,
called yourself weak
and that this was your way
to be a man.
But I'd like to stay.
And no, that isn't logical
or rational
and I can't help
or maybe do a damned bit of good--
but the idea that your heart
will beat alone,
that you will wait
for a silent monster
while I am safe and snug and happy
(or so you will reason)
is just not a truth.
I must give up a thousand day dreams
being yours
and the sound of your words
falling into silence---
maybe that's a sound I must hear
to be able to face
the day when you just aren't.
So I'd like to stay
and I know what that will mean
and I tell you that is not
just my way of being a woman,
but my way of being your woman.
I can say I love you ten thousand times
and maybe the reason
I say it so much
is that somewhere inside me
I knew I would only have so long
to say all that needed said.
But I'd like to stay.
Because the thought of giving up
a day or an hour or a minute of you
before I must
tears my soul to pieces
and i always said I was selfish.
So I'd like to stay.
even if the price
is the last goodbye
I will ever say to you.
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