Foolish Pain

Once, many months later, She talked with him late into the night and, exhausted, She failed to notice that her Pain had already, foolishly, fallen asleep on the floor next to her.

As She began to say her Goodbye, there was no longer any Pain to stop her Heart, in that moment, from reaching out to him, again. So, her lips moved to kiss him - as they had a thousand times before.

Suddenly, She gasped - shocked at the sudden movements of her own Heart - waking her Pain from its brief slumber. Startled and groggy, her Pain quickly placed a hand over her mouth, forcing any fleeing Affection back into hiding.

Then, in the moment of Silence that followed, they looked into each others' eyes for an eternal millisecond and smiled. After that knowing pause, they each whispered "Good Night" and spoke nothing more of it.  Neither wanted to further disturb her Pain - which was now watching ever so carefully, with heavy eyelids, from the floor next to her.

The Suitcase

There is a suitcase
That sits
By His front door
Still
Half-Packed
With Things
He never needs
Anymore.

After years of flying
From Place to Place
And running in
That Endless Race
From Here to There
And Now to Then
That suitcase
Has not moved
An Inch.

As It rests in his front Hall,
Hoping that
This
Is just a lonely lull,
Each day,
He passes by
With a brief, fleeting sigh
Through the front door to
A Place Nearby-
Not far from
Where suitcases
Just wait
And lie.

Now, the suitcase
Will wait
In This Place
they call "Fate"
With this one
Weary Worry:
Without a Dream
To chase
Through endless skies,
He may Someday
Simply Forget
How
To Fly.

5 Million Layer Man

"You might be the most complicated Man I've ever Met," She blurted out, "... There are like 5 Million Layers to You."

He smiled and began to ponder the implications of being the 5 Million Layer Man.  Then, just as He began to believe that that might have been the Kindest Way anyone had ever called him Crazy, She continued, "But, the layer I like most is that you talk.  Most guys don't talk much or when they talk they don't say much. And, you don't just talk -  You share your thoughts and feelings. You tell the Good and the Bad. You don't pretend to be Perfect.  You know who you are and you don't have any filters and you just put yourself out there to people - for Better or for Worse

"True That," He said with a nervous smile - not sure where This was going.

Then after a moment, he looked at Her and said, "I think I finally understand why I always end up Alone... It's genetic.  I mean, seriously, how can anyone possibly Love a guy with 5 Million Layers. That's so very unrealistic. It's way easier to love Simple Men. They have far fewer layers. Me, on the other hand, I have an extra 4,999,999 layers to possibly Loathe, Hate, Despise, or Dislike. I'm like a slot machine in a Vegas airport - Anyone's chances of hitting the jackpot with Me are nearly zero.  I think I'm going to get a Dog. But, I'm allergic to Dogs. Crap. I can't even get my own 5 million layers to like each other. See? Hopeless."

And as He looked at her, a Smile burst from deep within Him. Suddenly, they were both laughing.

"You may be Hopeless," She said, "But, don't forget that there's a lot of Layers to like, also. How about we focus on Those, instead?"

Suddenly, it occurred to Him that it didn't matter how many Layers he had - as long as Whoever was looking at Him chose to count up the Layers They Liked in Him, first.

And, in that moment, he imagined some lucky traveler thousands of miles away, stopping, setting their suitcase to the side, and slipping a dollar into a slot at McCarran Airport - and the blessed smile on that wear traveler's face as the lights began to flash and the quarters began to pour out of that So Very Lucky slot machine in a Vegas airport where - on very rare occasions - Someone hits the jackpot.

Trying to do the Right Thing

"You're a Good Person," She began, "... All you have to do is keep Trying to do the Right Thing."

As He stared at the ceiling, a tear slipped quietly out of the corner of his eye and jumped several stories to the pillow, below.

"That's All I have to do?" He asked.  He began to think of all the Wrong that He had done - while thinking he was Right and doing what he thought was Right - over the past Many Years.

For several minutes, He lay still and got lost looking towards a Distant Place that She could only feel, but not see.

Then, She moved closer to Him and buried Her head into His chest.

She whispered, "Come back."

And in that moment, He was found. He remembered all the Right that was left to do and realized that Right and Wrong are those Tricky Twins that like to wear each others clothes and giggle when you call them the wrong names. But, most importantly, He realized that, while Things didn't always turn out the way he had Hoped, all he could do was simply try to do The Right Thing every step of the way.

In the End, he could live with That. Come what may.

And Others may or may not choose to not live with That. Come what may. 

But, Trying to do The Right Thing... That was here to stay.

Happy Pills

There
are Pills
for that She
told Him that
would take away
the Edge So That Life
would no longer Be A Roller Coaster
Ride

And in a Moment
Every Shout
and Laugh and Kiss and Cry
and Pout
and Hug and Grin
and Sigh
flashed
before his
eyes.

Stunned,
he stopped
to wonder
Why
to all of That
She said Goodbye.

So he looked into
Her Eyes
And Saw
Her newly Vacant
Smile
And Decided

That He would
roll the dice-
and 

not 

Comply.

He thought:
Pills can only numb

and force choices
for just One-

and Happiness in

a Pill

was Not
for Him
to buy.

Her Happy Pills, 

you see, 

would just make him

Simply Be

like Someone Else,
Someone Safe,
for her to
try.