By: Patrick P. Stafford

Something there is that holds the anxious heart in check,
That offers only to the eyes the total essence of you,
Shows in the hair and face, in the lovely curve of neck,
How much I yearn to be near the total presence of you.

But I watch from a lonely distance and do not approach,
And with a desire restrained and unequaled by any other.
And though my longing is pure and above reproach,
It is still a secret urge that would love to be your lover.

Yet people are so unfriendly and can be so cold,
Keeping strangers as they are and never letting them come near.
But I have a warmth waiting to be shared and told,
Which has like you, overcome the indifference, but not the fear.

But we remain distant and thus stay safe and secure.
And once again the refuge of strangers saves us.
So to hell with the friends we love and the loneliness we endure,
We are too proud or shy to overcome the fear that enslaves us!

So we glorify loneliness and keep isolation for its own sake,
And the hope for spiritual deliverance we betray and desert.
For something there is that makes every encounter a mistake
Concerns us too much with being rejected and getting hurt.
(Something there is that forsakes friendship and wishes love to fall,
Desolates warmth and unity among friends and makes strangers of us all.)

*****

[Patrick P. Stafford (Patrick The Copywriting Poet!) is a resident of Northridge, California, and works full-time as a journalist, copywriter, editor and poet.  Patrick has written for AccessLife.com, Wheelin’ Sportsman, Amateur Chef Magazine, Healthcare Traveler, Northern Virginia Magazine, and Chicken Soup For The Soul, and has sold poems, articles and editorial pieces to both online and print publications over the past 30 years.  He recently had books of poetry published online at Writer’s Closet and SynergEbooks, and another poetic tome, regarding the life and death of Princess Diana, published in print in 2002, as well as fiction and journalistic pieces published nationally and internationally.]