Love Poem: Having Second Thoughts
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Written by: Shane Houston

Having Second Thoughts

free flowing thought in a lazy river of emotions
connecting sentences by combining threads of a web
spiders dance - they get dizzy with knowledge
answers are given but only understood without more intricate research
time and time again - our watches stop clicking but we keep purchasing them
yet we can buy not a second more of our life - when it is our time to go 
your voice may be soft but the challenges you have faced prepared you for a debate
you adjust your jaw as though you are trying to coerce a smile out of hiding
like a young friend who you have lost in your schoolyard -
they walk out of the shadows and to you - they are revealed
somehow they are different compared to the last time that you saw them
standing on the edge of a ladder and careful to keep balance
falling the short distance but keeping their head high for they have felt maturity
it has gripped at their shoulders and kept them focused on a goal
where will these ideas lead you all...
time will tell you only when your watch is fixed
plans can be set in stone but over time even a face of a stone erodes away into dust cloud
full of thoughts
it kicks up and reminds the elderly woman of her youth
leaving the home she helped provide for because of unforgiving dust cloud
she moved out to the Western edge looking for her Eastern lover
she promised him that she would reach out to him as soon as she arrived
he was just out of reach
and so she goes to the makeshift shed on the newly-established property
and she gathers the ladder from the side of the wall
patiently exploring the next with her stride in a safe position
the lunar vision reaches down and pulls the waves to crash over her
knocking her to the ground but keeping her safe inside of a current
flows downwards towards her lover and his property boundary
stands - covered in a grainy film which consists of saltwater and sand
one smile at him - the very same grin that she witnessed after he hid those years ago
she recognizes him as the friend she lost in the game those many years ago
the years march on and she finds herself on the established homestead and its porch
she rocks in the chair that he built by hand so she could have a place to put her children to sleep
she carried them into their nursery and sat with them until they were ready to dream
she would never destroy their dreams
time would not allow her to do so
as the clock clicks in the corner
clicking - clicking
until it stops
and she breathes a final phrase