Her milky, white face,
Amid crimson curls,
Is illuminated,
Across a barroom,
Saturated with smoke.
Feelings swell up,
Deep inside.
I cringe,
At the distance,
I cannot travel.
Introverted, fearful.
Doubts so deep.
Her love,
Never to be for me.
Hating myself now.
A casual glance.
So afraid.
Call up courage?
Only a busy signal.
Every possibility,
Calculated and measured,
I sit.
Time winding down.
Window’s closing.
Competition arises.
Resolve dissolving.
Don’t care.
Re-knowing my failings.
Shy nature a liability.
She stands there, a goddess,
In my imagination.
Looking away.
They exit together.
I return, writing of solitude.