by
Elliot Thaler
sometimes,
when you fall asleep in my bed
with one sock on
(like you always do)
and your head burrowed into my shoulder,
your mouth half-open
and your eye-lids fluttering away the down
of the feather-plucked pillows...
i talk to you.
i admit that i broke your grandfather's picture frame
while i was playing darts in the basement,
and that i'm the one who burnt the hole in the cutting board.
that i'm getting tired of my job and i might quit
before the beginning of next year.
that i once hit on your sister while i was drunk
and she cracked me in the jaw.
that she was responsible for that bruise you iced with frozen peas,
when i told you i fell into the counter.
i tell you that i'm an asshole,
and i don't know what you're doing with me,
that i carry around that sugar packet with the sailboat on it
that you gave to me after i first kissed you
in the lobby of the seaport diner,
leaning against that old cigarette machine.
i brush the hair away from your forehead
and wipe the little slick of drool off your chin.
i tell you that you're beautiful.
that i hope you don't figure out what a lost cause i am
and leave me here with nothing.
and i thank you for writing that get well card to my aunt sylvia
when i forgot to, and for taking my bike out of the rain
so it wouldn't rust last tuesday.
for being the only person to look at me head-on
while you lay with me, and for digging your fingernails
into my scalp without pressing too hard.
for not asking me to say it,
even though i hope you know i mean it,
that i do.
nestled and entangled in my arms,
your breath heavy with exhaust,
i look at you once more before turning off the light
and can't help but feel this need in me for everything about you.
and so i tell you that i love you,
too cowardly to wake you,
hoping you might hear it in your dream.
03/04/2008
Posted on 03/05/2008
Copyright © 2010 Elliot Thaler
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Sandy M. Humphrey on 03/05/08 at 01:56 PM When I just browse getting my poetry fix I do not always have time to log in and comment but your poetry is so honest, tender and conversational I keep coming back to read it. Parts of your poem are a mirror to my own actions at time speaking to someone while they sleep only hoping they will hear me in dreams...amazing. smh |
| Posted by Nanette Bellman on 03/05/08 at 09:19 PM god, i wish i had a guy to wipe the drool of my chin. beautiful elliot. as always. |
| Posted by Alessandra Gallo on 03/06/08 at 12:31 PM your poetry rocks. end of discussion. |
| Posted by Bradd Howard on 03/06/08 at 12:48 PM such tenderness... even when admitting "what a lost cause you are". I have had this similiar experience many times. and then they wake up to find you staring at them and you have no words then. the words are only safe when they are sleeping. great write! I look forward to reading more of you |
| Posted by Barbara Penryn on 03/06/08 at 03:46 PM Nice! |
| Posted by Frankie Sanchez on 03/06/08 at 10:08 PM kudos. this is (beyond) beautiful. |
| Posted by Sarah Mae Allard on 03/06/08 at 11:58 PM you scum! hitting on her sister |
| Posted by Abby Cossins on 03/07/08 at 02:29 PM sweet and vulnerable, a lovely poem x |
| Posted by Crystal Wilkinson on 03/07/08 at 05:17 PM I love this, it's beyond words. Beautiful insight and expression. Great Read!!!! |
| Posted by Christian Ragunton on 03/08/08 at 02:06 AM are you kidding me? the most beautiful thing i have ever read. never, in my 4 years here at pathetic, have i added a poem to my favorites folder. until now --- beautiful work. man, absolutely, beautiful. "and so i tell you that i love you, too cowardly to wake you, hoping you might hear it in your dream." wow. just, wow. |
| Posted by Maria Massarella on 03/10/08 at 01:10 PM One would hope the talk enters dreams though in my heart i believe it does. Should it not, maybe you could find your spine and she could sleep less deeply. Your poems have a beautiful feel... *m.a |
| Posted by Mara Meade on 03/11/08 at 02:46 PM It's the absolute honesty that gets me straight in the heart. Great poem. |
| Posted by Kristi Paik on 03/12/08 at 02:46 PM aside from the lovely vunerability of this piece, i love the honesty even more. this is a fave for sure. thank you for sharing, i hope she read this! |
| Posted by Kristi Paik on 03/12/08 at 02:47 PM aside from the lovely vunerability of this piece, i love the honesty even more. this is a fave for sure. thank you for sharing, i hope she read this! |
| Posted by Alison McKenzie on 03/13/08 at 01:50 AM Your adoration of this precious girl bathes me in awe of love, and how fear makes us say things in the night that we could not in the light of day. It's funny and vulnerable and real and reminds me that there are still amazing moments being had in other parts of reality. I'm so glad to read it! |
| Posted by Jane E Pearce on 03/13/08 at 06:08 PM I often don't take the time to read long poems but this one hooked me at the start. A wonderful flow with no tripping. One thing lead to another. She's a lucky lady to have you but I am sure you feel as lucky to have you. Wonderful poem. |
| Posted by Rachel C Johnson on 03/15/08 at 10:56 PM I absolutely love this piece. That's all there is to it. I just do. :) |
| Posted by LK Barrett on 03/18/08 at 07:00 AM Intimate, direct, breathtakingly fragile and assertive at the same time. Adore. |
| Posted by Nadia Gilbert Kent on 03/18/08 at 03:42 PM That was pretty hot. |
| Posted by Bridger Madison on 06/18/08 at 10:54 PM Lovely. |
| Posted by Maria Francesca on 06/22/08 at 10:08 PM just so beautiful. |
| Posted by Melanie J Yarbrough on 07/10/08 at 12:01 PM absolutely beautiful |
| Posted by Ava Blu on 07/13/08 at 01:08 AM Well, what the hell can I add after all those comments? I seem to love everything you post. |
| Posted by Meghan Helmich on 08/27/08 at 05:00 PM i feel like a stalker adding a comment to every one of your poems. especially when i can't say anything new other than skipping around the statement that i'm infatuated with you(r writing) hah |
| Posted by Carolyn Coville on 09/20/08 at 12:48 AM your words are just so real, so honest...glimpses of life at its best, its worst..I don't know what else to say! |
| Posted by Nanette Bellman on 10/18/08 at 03:29 PM it's great to go and reread pieces like this. everytime i pick up something new from it. once again, amazingly beautiful. |
| Posted by John Ilotan on 09/12/09 at 07:03 PM Great write. Beautiful in it's honesty and intimacy. I'm glad I came across it. |
| Posted by Melissa Kosswig on 12/30/09 at 03:55 PM i agree with the above comments. this is sheer perfection. really really wonderful. |
| Posted by Jem Medley on 03/14/10 at 02:38 PM beautiful |
| Posted by Charlie Morgan on 05/05/10 at 02:33 PM elliot, this must be timeless. you wrote it in '8 and i didn't get to see it til now...and i love how it talks to you...all of us are Walter Mittys when it comes talking out of the heart. |
| Posted by Blue Medley on 07/22/10 at 12:59 AM i REALLY love this poem, i spent 3 days looking for it again hah, she's a lucky girl. |
