Smokers Need Not Apply

"Smokers Need Not Apply"
I want a shirt with that phrase
Boldly displayed across my chest
When not in use it'll hang neatly between
"I Support Single Moms"
And "Joss Wheadon is My Master"

That's my fear of self destruction
Placed between my desire to be a father
And the yearning to find someone that understands me

Ask me again what I am looking for
I want to raise and support a family
Exercise that fatherly devotion burning within
Pamper and spoil my caring partner
I want to look across a room to find
Someone I truly see
Truly seeing me

No one understood what we saw in one another
It was simply that we did truly see
Just like how every time I see a lighter
My thoughts drift to the crescent shaped burns
The ones left behind by your sorrow
An expression of emotion in a blistering statement
Etched into your tender flesh
Forever burning into my memories

Or as clouds of smoke drift by
My thoughts drift to the way you tried to hide
Those new habits you were picking up
Smoking and cheating
Forever entwined
An emotional response to the scent of cancer

Try not to be disappointed
As I prefer to take the world on alone
It's not your taste for fire
It's me with my worn history
Trying to explain why
Smokers Need Not Apply

Lindy Cat

Lindy Cat was my greatest swing partner
Together we mastered the art of aerials
She did back flips over me
Leapt to and from my shoulder
Eggbeatered below me
Floor swept around me
Handstands on my shoulders
Eventually we even mastered
Double Around the Worlds
She was amazing

Learning all these stunts was not a simple task
Along the way there were spills and slips and falls
Every time she hoped back up ready for more
She was amazing

One day I lost my balance and fell
I panicked and ran away
To this day it still catches my breath
The pains of our fall still linger
Like an old injury
Aching before the rain falls from my cheeks
She fought for me
Chased me down and loved me
Loved me until the pain of missing her
Was greater than our injury
She was amazing

Now a lifetime later
She has moved on
Fallen in and out of love
Started a family
Found happiness
She is still amazing

It is to her you should send thanks
When my heart was yours
There were spills and slips and falls
Every time I hoped back up ready for more
That is how she taught me to love
She was amazing

A lifetime later
What I wouldn't trade
To have returned the strength she had lended me
When she needed me the most
She was amazing

Lindy Cat was my greatest partner
She was amazing