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