I Search for you Daley

A poem about searching for a long-lost love in Daley Plaza, downtown Chicago.

The marble bench I sit on is cold

The orange water dances to the west

Picasso towers above me to the north

People buzz all around me

Enveloping me in the city’s tornado of life

I’m the leftover debris, whirling about

My head is spinning, spinning

Frantically, I search for you

Just a glimpse, that’s all I need

I see you in my head, but I can’t find you here

Because I don’t belong in this place

Every man I see, I make sure it’s not you

Wait…is that you?

No, he’s too old

And, you wouldn’t wear those shoes

What about that guy over there, looking at me?

No, you wouldn’t wear royal blue pants

You’re so close, yet so far away

I look up at the cold glass windows to the east

You work on the 3^rd floor, not the 4^th

No one ever goes up to the 4^th

I sip my latte to stop myself from screaming your name

Then, a tear runs down my cheek

Leaving a path that’s quickly replaced by the cold wind

I’ll never find you; it’s not meant to be

My heart desperately aches for you to go away

It also aches just to see your face

I can’t do this anymore, so I walk away

My bloody heart stays there on the bench

Continuing to search for you, as it screams out your name

The further away I get, the louder it screams

Maybe it’ll find you, after all, but I doubt it

Even if you hear it calling your name

You’ll ignore the cries and shrills it makes

You can’t acknowledge its presence

So you leave it there to die

With its last breath muttering:

“Bye, bye ChicagoPicasso”

“Bye, bye MrPerson”

“Bye, bye MrDashing”

“Bye, bye VirtualGuy”

“Bye, bye my 1…2…3…4”