swear

I promise that my promises
are true. I swear I won't
beguile or hide a part from
me from you, nor tear myself
in half. this is my heart: in
pieces yet intact. this is my
heart.

and with a shutting lens I hold
you in my eyes for one moment in
time, before you run before these
faces shift, before the crowd moves
forth and eats you whole, a victim of
the city buses' swim.

one day I'll row upstream to
meet you in the middle of the
intersect, that giant square where angry
drivers try to cast us to the sides.
but stop, and say these words; the horns
blare on their own accord. you'll
go to school to hear them sing and
write your song to match. and I
will play, off time.

you'll go to school and sing but
I will stay the same, with books
and notes and my off-beating
drum. you'll go to school and sing. and
swear to stay in love.