I’ve summoned you
Too many times to count
Shaken out bottle after bottle
Finally smashed one to smithereens
Where have you been
Why won’t you answer my calls
Or are my wishes not meant to come true
Are you distracted elsewhere, dear genie o’ mine
I’m running out of faith, hope, and time
Like the last leaf in winter,
Sometimes I hang on too long.
If it is something good –
A relationship, a place, an experience,
A lipstick color, really great ice cream –
I want it in my life forever.
Afraid to leave behind the good I know,
To allow the change to change me,
I just don’t want to let go.
I don’t think I’m greedy,
I think I just love too tightly.
(When you’ve had things ripped away from you,
Maybe you tend to hold fast and hard.)
I’m working on a lighter grip,
A turning over, a letting go.
“If you love someone, set them free.”
I know you have to make space
For something new to come through.
Yet, still, I love who and what I love.
And in my heart of hearts,
I wish it could last forever.
So like a child, I let go begrudgingly.
I blink back the tears, await what comes next.
Beyond the Skinny Branches 