Saw you that night,
smoking from the start—
I’d seen enough to know it,
that in time you would erupt.

You sat in that chair—
and everyone was standing.
You did not seem to care
to hide the anger on your face
despite obviously aware

You were pissed—
so pissed in fact you seemed,
you warded off everyone’s
curiosity to ask you why—

Your eyes fixed, arms crossed,
assed on the edge of a seat—
You would slip to the floor
were you not so stiff.

One word answers,
all offered one tone.
And why I would persist,
I don’t know—

I thought that I would know
a dance when I see it—
I thought maybe you’d melt,
thought maybe you’d like to—
thought maybe you’d needed
just someone to melt you.

I made one fatal mistake,
or not fatal but not helpful—
I think I cared too much—
I guess is why I tried.