What am I to you?


Totem Pole

"Why wont you go with me to Alaska?" he said.
"It's 2000 miles away."
We've hardly known each other, she thought.
"I'll come visit when you're settled" she promised.
"We can decide another day."

"I'm gonna be 41 here soon, " he said.
"I'm ready to settle down."
He laid his dreams at her feet.
"I want a woman to put herself first
and me second."
His words tugged at her heart.
She wanted to be the one for him.
She wanted it from the start.

Now he's gone to Virginia
Gone to see his kin.
Haven't heard a word from him.
No "I miss you" calls or letters
Not a word in my bin.

Now he's back
"I think about you all the time"
"I'm not looking for love anywhere else"
"I'm not the kind."
"I care too much for you."

"What am I to you" she said
"Am I yours and are you mine?"
I want to tell my friends you're my boyfriend she thinks.
Where am I on your totem pole?
Am I last in line?

Because this is how I feel. She thinks.
Like a badly watered plant.
One day I'm a dying.
Parched for love.
The next I'm overwhelmed
Love is overflowing, and I'm about to drown.

"I can't make you any promises." he says
"I care too much for you."
"Long distance relationships don't work," he says
What about my visit, she thinks
Why can't we think this through?
Our time together was precious to me.
And I thought it was to you too.

"Let's just see how this plays out."
"Take it one day at a time."
"I don't know what I want now," he says
"I'm going to need some time."
This is my fresh beginning.
My time to start anew.
He writes for everyone to see.
Something superficial, not a private note for me.

"I haven't got my own computer"
"I never have much time"
I send jokes, and update my webpage.
Could not drop you a line.
Where am I on your totem pole,
Am I last in line?

So that's it? She thinks
Is that all she wrote?
He left a smile for someone else.
2 new women in Alaska
are on his friends list.
He hasn't even got there yet.
but I won't even be missed.

Why couldn't you be honest? she thinks
This could have been a beginning for us
This could have been devine.
All I needed was some attention from you
But I was always last in line.

He's not trying hard enough, not trying at all she thinks
He gave up in Virginia.
He just wants to forget me.
What about my visit? she thinks.
Did you think they were hollow words?
If you knew me better you'd know the truth.
I guess that's the point.

We hardly said hello, and now you say goodbye.
Goodbye to the hugs and kisses
Goodbye to making love
Goodbye to anything we might have had.
Goodbye to everyone.

I hope you find what you're looking for, she thinks
I could have been the one for you.
You pushed me away
into a corner
and kept your feelings at bay.

I know we had something special.
I will never forget.
I'll find someone else someday.
but I will never regret.
The times we spent were dear to me.
And now you'll never know.
Just how far our love might have grown.
If you'd put me on your totem pole.






Poetry by Kari
Read 937 times
Written on 2006-10-03 at 17:56

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betsy Firefly
Interesting and different.
2007-02-06


Kathy Lockhart
Sadly this happens all too often in this time of internet romance. Again, you have captured the feeling and presented it so well. : ) kathy
2006-10-03


Rob Graber
True-to-life and touching.
2006-10-03


Anne Westlund
This is wonderful, but very sad. I like the totem pole metaphor and the repetition.
The jerk!
2006-10-03