Fighting Irony: entry

My Lighthouse Smoke Detector Goes All Night Long

I will never forget how you looked at me
Your moment of realization as pained
as a punch to the gut as clear as cut crystal
untouched by my sweaty hairy-nuckled paw
empty of the whiskey that gives it purpose

Just 15 minutes earlier you greeted me
with barefaced enthusiasm!
like a daughter whose Dad is on Leave
not an inaccurate metaphor, not because you are girl-like
(you are all woman)
or because I’ve been away at war
(inner terrorists are my Iraq)
because there is something about you
that makes me want to take care of you

I have known this for a long time

And I swear, your eyes, I saw them sparkle
which I thought was just an expression

I’m sorry you thought I was different
We spent that whole day together
both of us hating the morning
sipping our orange juices, slipping out of the
lecture for coffee and doughnuts
insufferable hours later, charging the fading daylight
a newly formed duo, laughing at the others
all of The Others, believing so much so easily

Years Pass.

In the colorful static of night
you come to me
as the blinking light of my smoke detector
a steady warning
My own personal lighthouse
blinking red, warning of the rocks ahead
keeping us at a safe distance,
from the treacherous shore of memory
from one another,
without reward