Poem: Show don't tell

Show don’t tell

Why is every young man
A Lost Boy
Why do we have to go through
This Prodigal Son
I’m off on a journey
‘I may be some time’ kinda shit
Pissing away our inheritance
Emotional, cultural, educational
With the pigs

Why do I want to rescue you?
And why am I torn, desperate
That you swim to your own lifeboat?
Fighting the easy impulse to throw you a line
But I must watch, allowing you to sink
To struggle
To find your own depth
Deep inside
Your wounded
And waiting to be connected self

I don’t want to tell you
‘I love you’
I want you to know.
I want you to
Show me your life
I’m desperate for you to know
I’m listening

Away from home
In your new world
You show me
Your work
Your relationships
Your hopes and disappointments
How things could be better

They are better
We hug once to say goodbye
And then again
Catching each other’s eyes
To say
Those words
I’m too scared
To whisper out loud