(To J.)
Please go away and be my friend,
This cup of fire let pass from you —
Because I know it’s not the end
I’ll only spill a tear or two.
Your laugh, your touch, your kiss I’ll need,
But these are only part of you —
Your other gifts to me indeed
My strength, my will to live, renew.
The on the other hand reproof,
Of language and “what’s right for me” —
(Don’t think I’m really that aloof)
Of these, at least, I’ll soon be free!
So think of love quite seriously
And to your new affairs attend;
What’s left for now’s enough for me —
Please go away and be my friend.
—Bill Matheny