Over the Phone

As though looking down an elevator shaft I listen, sounds
I can hear, but only faint, as the feinting that your heart pounds.

Mine and yours are hearts entwined with friendship,
Bent upon the other's well-being, hip
To hip so to speak, back to back, lip sealed
By the secrets we hold, the past thus healed.

Just as before the storm lightening is discharged in such great speed,
So do we converse to loosen the tight clench as our hearts bleed.

For without words our bodies soon will toil
From the buildup of sense, which we do boil
In the intellect: so our needs must
Be heard; lest we do turn both into dust!

So we speak in the fashion after which we were both taught well,
As birds of feather flocking together, so we learn spell.

Still, inside of us we have doubts, and tears
Are often the results of our bouts, fears
Overladen with desire to see
The other eye to eye; reality!

For in knowing the mother searches for her son in the night,
Is not the same as searching for yours, to alleviate fright!

So listening as keenly as I do
To the sound of your voice, true love I claim
Is upon your heart; but makes my mind bane
For knowledge, I know, is unkind, insane!

As some animals will insist upon entering another's lair,
So with such insistence does my mind enter as a player.

Yet acting upon the sound I hear would be
But a foolish childish fantasy;
Still, within the sound of nothing I hear
The hint of longing mixed with fear.

So I stand upon the brink of doom, quiet voice still intact,
I wait for your boon, but alack! no answer; fail to act.

And still the minutes drag on and on
Until I find myself wondering anon
How very much I was wrong to think
That you and I were actually on the brink.

For as briars in a forest do snare passerby, they caught.
Shall be as we are by the silence in each other, forgot. 

Listen then to the beat of the heart, and
I shall listen back for a start, stand
Firm in the palm of my hand, for I say
That we shall listen if we must all day!

Then suddenly I hear the sound for which I've longed, and I've known
Within the pattern of the past; glad you too were overthrown.

For in a single smile you sounded out
The sound of love which we are all about.
Thus, relieved I now commence to so free
My tongue, as we were always want to be.

And in every town or city there is a light, shines brightly
On friends of all sorts as they go too and fro in sight, plainly!

And despite the lack of romantic zeal,
I still find so much inside, great appeal
In your friendship; allied as such with you
Have I greater hope in myself, so true.

It's true that lovers must converse as new found roses in the spring,
And they must still rehearse the waves of converse that they bring.

Yet standing here in my youthful trouble,
I know our joining is much more subtle.
For I see it the history we  share,
Which no one else knows, they are unaware.

So with gentle smile, akin to brotherly love, join your song,
And begin to play with the tune, and to sing refrains along!

You sing your part with grace and so much ease
That I am hard pressed with you to please the
Ears with which you hear: as mine are touched, by
Your most gentle waves; I thought so much. Sigh.

Thus together, though far apart, by phone we meet each other,
Not some romantic feat have we loved, but sister and brother!

And deep in the crevices of my heart
I know that in time I shall grow smart, give
Over myself to the need to protect,
And by such honor shall I find respect.


For in stupidity, as the dodo bird became extinct,
We all have thoughts that remain thoughts, but speak only for a time.

So in the pining of my heart for new
Love have I betrayed you, the one true friend
I can count on to remain, not bend
Away as the coming of fashions tend.

For as a bat that is born from the start blind am I also,
With startling desires we cannot find, they are lost so!

For while we have been connected by strings
Of the past, those high flying strong wings
Of eagles that do soar, I find myself
In pain to be connected; bind my health.

For in such pain I do hold each friend dear to my beating heart,
I find that there is greater suffering found, a heart smart.

When traveling down a dreary lane, few
Things will ever ring out as so sane. Pews
In Churches hold little love for me, still
The sight of friends in church is fee; trill!

Thus with a pang of longing for your presence my friend I go,
I thank you for your converse, so it is at an end; but know...

That in friendship without romance is love
Of a different sort in the hands of gloves
Laden with sweet and simple affection,
That craves the other's happy perfection.

So as we part into the nothingness that connects our minds,
Consider the hyena, but don't imitate, for he whines!

So is it said, so now let it be done,
For in speaking I'm not yet sure I've won.
It's easy to proclaim the love of friends,
Harder still to commit, to prevent bends!

Yet I'll find a way, I will, I need to, this act must pass!
I must find a way to make this most treasured of friendships last!

                                                                        Over the Phone, (c) Luke Bennette, April 2012