Tangled Touch

When I was twenty,

life looked simple Just follow every road they drew

Get a good job,

find a little place And love would somehow find you too

So I worked while others fell in love Built a future brick

by brick

Never stopped to ask myself What if love don’t work like this

I kept my heart in order

Kept my hope in line

But every door I opened Left a little more behind So tell

me How many almosts make a man How many chapters never land

How many times can hope survive Before it starts to shake in

your hands I’m not angry I’m just tired Of waving at a

life That never stayed long enough to be mine

Then came a girl who read about monks She smiled like everything

was light We played golf beneath the summer sun Talked for hours

until the night She looked at me and softly said I’d like

to keep you in my life But somewhere between friend and love

She couldn’t cross the other side

Weeks later in the heat of June I asked how she had

been

Silence answered every word And I felt that same ache again So

tell me How many almosts make a man How many chapters never

land How many times can hope survive Before it starts to shake

in your hands I’m not angry I’m just tired Of waving at

a life That never stayed long enough to be mine

Then another heart walked through the door With little hearts inside her

texts

She called me sweet,

she made me laugh She promised we’d meet next But every plan

became someday

Every Friday slipped away Until one message finally said You’re wonderful,

just not for me

I wasn’t shocked My heart already knew Sometimes your soul arrives Before

the truth catches up to you So tell me How many almosts

make a man How many chapters never land How many times can

hope survive Before it starts to shake in your hands I’m not

broken Just bruised Trying to believe Love hasn’t already chosen someone new

She said once

You’re exactly the kind of man I wish I could fall in

love with Funny how one soft sentence Can hold two things at

once The warmest little memory And the deepest kind of hurt

She cried

I cried Not because we hated each other But because sometimes Two

good people Still become The saddest goodbye

Now tomorrow waits in another city Another stranger Another chance

Maybe she’s only another chapter Maybe she’s the one who reads my

soul at a glance Maybe not But I’ll still show up With

my heart held open wide If love comes in,

I’ll let it in No matter how many times I’ve tried So

if you’re listening somewhere tonight And wondering why I’m still alone It

isn’t that I stopped believing It’s that my heart kept opening home

Sometimes she stayed for coffee

Sometimes she stayed for weeks Sometimes she stayed long enough To show

me what forever almost means I’m not angry I’m just tired

Of waving at a life That never stayed long enough to be

mine

One day Someone will ask me Why I never gave up And

I’ll smile Because nobody saw How many nights I almost did But

every morning I got up And believed again