There Was a Time…

There was a time

When you thrilled me.

My heart stopped when you first spoke to me

In a club downtown on 5^th Avenue

With your lips so close to my ear, your warm breath

Raised goose bumps on my neck

We danced

You fell and tore your fishnets

Like a fool, I kissed the reddened flesh of your thigh

You pulled away and made a face before you pulled me in for a kiss.

There was a time

When you loved me.

We took the Path from Jersey City to the Village

And walked uptown to reminisce at the Peppermint

It was gone and we laughed when the traffic cop told us it closed in 86

We held each other tight and you whispered, where did the time go

We ended up in Chelsea at Maryann’s Mexican joint

And sat at a table so close to our neighbors that it felt like

We were sharing a meal.

There was a time

When you cared for me.

You held my hand and laid your head on my shoulder

As the doctor told me that my father wouldn’t last the night

You sat with me as that night passed and waited alone

As I was escorted to that barren room to retrieve his belongings

You cried and held me close when I told you how I hugged the nurse

Who gave me my father’s watch

You whispered, this is better than the pain.

There was a time

When you angered me

I was late to our daughter’s birthday party and

You were stuck waiting on fifty people while cleaning up the cake batter

The cat had spilled on the kitchen floor

You knew that I was out working but

you wouldn’t stop yelling until

You pulled me tightly to you and growled in my ear,

How could you, again.

There was a time

When you left me.

We were driving home from our daughter’s graduation

And I yelled because you were complaining about my driving, again

We were already on edge because I had made us late and

We missed when they called her name

She cried and I told her to grow up while you

Pulled her in tight and whispered something in her ear

I longed to feel that embrace once more and when we got home

I clumsily pulled you in and you put your lips against my ear

And whispered,