I know all too well
that you have no control
over your heart, and you
cannot tell it how to feel.
That is not enough
to stop me from wanting
to be with you – but I know
that your wishes do not
include me, and never will.

I used to think of you
as just a friend, but now,
you mean so much more,
and you know that, too.
I don’t want to ask
for more than you can give,
or give more
than you’re asking for,
but still I long
to be the love in your eyes, heart
and mind. I want to hold you
in my arms and say things to you,
but I have not won the right
to call you mine.
I don’t want to stop your life
from happening to you. I am not
the one you want,
and I will not stand
in the way of the one you do want.

I do not know
that this is what’s best,
but that you say it is.
So I will walk away
when I would rather
step forward,
call you my friend,
not my lover.
So this then is a tear,
not your kiss.
And this,
where you no longer
fill in the blanks,
this is my loneliness.