Ending Summers of Selflessness

A Poem About A Seasonal Love Affair

 

“Ending Summers of Selflessness"

 

A hurried call, the first chance I took

Quickly dropped the phone back on the hook

Before questions were asked, I changed subject

It’s back to the game of being a suspect

 

The heat abates, September skies

Keep us away from prying eyes

We live to share our only season

Away from selflessness and reason

 

Meet me in the park, the usual place

God, how I’ve longed to touch your face

It’s been two whole months of playing pretend

The holidays of broken smiles come to an end

 

Kids back in school, the mundane routine

Detracts from the actual places I’ve been

I return home like the faithful, “storybook” Dad

How did this situation get so bad?

 

Five long years of living; lying with you

Hurting those we love, if only they knew

One day this will explode out into reality

And civility will descend into fights and formality

  

I’ll lose everything in my life that I hold dear

Besides you, that is my biggest fear

Because, my love, this is all for you

I hope we can live to see this through

 

Quite what we are doing, I just don’t know

I’d die for my kids, yet they’d be asking me to go

It’s been five years; a lifetime of playing pretend

When will this beautiful, cruel game end?