Name Tag

Right now you are a name tag

All I read is a simple name

The name at the time means nothing

Yet soon it means everything

I

exchange hellos

reveal my name

make a few jokes

All a simple gesture

which leads to something much more

We both are 

lonely

hopeless

slightly cynical

and exactly what we both need

This meeting isn’t the last time we see each other

We continue to find one another 

on purpose

We tell each other

stories of life

thoughts of what it means

our passions

And we share

everything-

without end

We grow fonder of one another

Life becomes ideal

The cynicism diminishes

as we begin to enjoy 

One another

We share love

We go through life together 

It’s not what was planned

But when is anything

We agree

and become roommates

Life moves faster

More nights pass where I

do not feel lonely

or unloved

or misunderstood

You fill such a void

I make a rash decision

You say yes

Tears are shared

We both know the ramifications that come

a new life

(but is it much different we ask ourselves)

possibly a family

a commitment that

can not be broken

A year passes

We are Mr. and Mrs. so and so

People surround us

Isn’t it incredible how far we’ve come

After just me reading your name tag

Afterwards another night is had

with love

and joy

and I am again not lonely

not misunderstood

We are no longer

cynical

lonely

but we are

hopeful

happy

A gift is on the way he says

Should be here in under a year

Something new

We have both been told that this gift brings

a new type

of love

of pride

of joy

The time passes

The gift comes to us

We couldn’t be happier

Life moves on

We watch the unraveling of the gift into something

great

and respectable

Something that makes us more proud than ever before

Years pass and the gift is

smart

beautiful

perfect

Life couldn’t seem to be better

Yet we know this is too good to be true

Nights pass with you feeling 

pain that is unexplainable

Why

No one is sure

He says it is something that can happen

Something we cannot stop

And it 

spreads

encases your being

starts to destroy you

As you become

depressed

anxious

not yourself

I look at you and I remember

our love

our life

As you clutch to the sides

of your hospital bed

You tell me

you love me

to move on

to not waste in depression

to take care of our special gift

Hours pass with me

sitting there

staring at you-

but you are not you anymore

you are a body

You have fled somewhere else

Somewhere happier

One day I will find you

As time passes I grow

cynical

lonely

hopeless

I never wanted this

I take care of our gift

I try my hardest

But it is harder than it seems

This is all because of that one

day

hour

talk

laugh

moment

Where I read your name

But at that time you

were just a

Name tag

-JH