Coming of Age

Coming of Age

And when it rains,
do you think of me?
Of the night I
trudged the six blocks
through the downpour
to stand on your step?
I needed to be with you.
I needed reassurance
that my world wouldn't
cave in without you.
But you had other plans:
You wanted to show me
that I could stand on my own
like I'd done all the years
before I knew you.

I didn't believe you then.

You said I had so much more
to do, see, and be
--and so did you--
before I settled down on
one person. Besides,
you said, you didn't
want to put me through
all the doubts,
all the uncertainties
of a relationship
carried on over
distances : land, age, life.

I've had my doubts
about my own strength,
even your expectations for me.
But I've survived
not without believing
that your love for me was
pure enough to let me go--
no--to make me go
when both our futures
pulled in opposite directions.
What else could you have done?

Thank you, and know
you still have
a piece of my heart.

Spring 1990
Lessons from Tony M.