You Needed Me

you needed me to be there
watching quietly as men spilled out
from your door to the sidewalk
snakes slinking away to waiting cars
a dance of desperate necessity
without music
without making a sound
until their motors turned over
causing a shiver to tiptoe up my spine

but you needed me to be here
to see who you really are
hope pouring from me like a fountain
pouring slowly like guilt
offering nothing but inaction
I stood there and watched the parade
sometimes I can be damned persistent

can't I

males on every corner of my eyes
some in the middle
pushing love aside
as you planned
chasing away every emotion I feel perhaps

shrouded now in emptiness
like I was before you gave me
something else to wrap myself in
something else to wrap my soul in
but all that's over and I wonder
where did it all begin to end

shrouded now in emptiness
alone beside this elm tree
an unnameable pain grows within
filling the usual delicate realms

desperate to be anywhere else
I walk away knowing
you needed me to be there

==