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About This Poem

Wait

Wait until this cup is done.
Then tell me how you have to run
Off to redundant chores and scattered places,
Shopping lists, a million things to do 
And then a boisterous rendezvous 
At some day’s end schoolyard filled with happy faces.
                                                            
Delay, perhaps, the passing of the hour’s beckoning
And thus defer a certain reckoning
That must be made with lost time, empty time -
Time unfilled with dreams that are not mine.
A short reprieve as I linger upon every word, each dear movement of your lips,
Lips never known, nor beheld by a kiss, and yet this time slips
Away without a caress upon your cheek, a warm embrace
Or a trace of recognition upon your face.
I listen to every word, laugh at each recounted antic
And although my mind’s anxious heart is rendered frantic,
Dignity and decorum reign as I feign mild amusement at my fate, 
With the call that comes and affirms the hour is getting late.

Stay? Pray at least until this cigarette has ended
And back you go to those befriended
Long before I knew your graceful face,
And I ever knew there was such a time or such a place.
Where for if only for just a little while,
I catch a glimpse of a deathless smile
Among small talk, coffee and enraptured laughter.
Knowing full well I shall pay the bill after
You have left, turned and waved, our visit done.
Knowing full well I am not the one.

Knowing full well I am not the one
Who can hold you past this time as the moments pale,
I endure one more desperate glance behind enchantment’s veil,
As you smile, say good bye and tell me how you have to run.

MCP
7/6/2007 rev 7/7/2007

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  1. Date: 3/11/2013 1:12:00 PM

    Well done Mark, an awesome write. Rick

  1. Date: 2/13/2012 7:14:00 AM

    Mark, very nice work. Congratulations on being featured by Poetry Soup this week...............S.Ronthorpe.

  1. Date: 2/13/2012 5:31:00 AM

    Congratulations on your poetry being featured this week Mark. Love, Carol

  1. Date: 5/16/2011 5:27:00 PM

    Congratulations on your poem being featured this week, Mark

  1. Date: 5/16/2011 12:45:00 PM

    Congratulations on your featured write this week Mark. Love, Carol

  1. Date: 2/2/2011 1:04:00 PM

    You are a genuine poet, I cannot believe you wrote here all the while unread by me ... yes the days of boredom are done ... I have things to read, fresh as spring

  1. Date: 9/10/2008 6:12:00 AM

    Congratulations on your well deserved feature this week Mark. Love, Carol

  1. Date: 9/9/2008 9:27:00 AM

    Congratulations Mark on the featuring of your poem "Wait." Vince

  1. Date: 9/8/2008 4:05:00 PM

    Feelings for someone who perhaps belongs to someone else? Awesome write. Congratulations on a well deserved featured write of the week. Love, Shar

  1. Date: 9/8/2008 4:28:00 AM

    It sure is sad how some emotions are never really understood by the person they are for - Congrats on being featured (You should let her know your true feelings)

  1. Date: 9/8/2008 2:24:00 AM

    very interesting and weaves a spell Daniel Larson