The Numbers Racket

 

I have learned to count

                Since I've known you.

 

I smile in the morning

                When I remember the warmth

                We shared last night.

 

I want to touch you again,

                But I know I must wait.

"Count to 4" the calendar says,

                And I obey.

 

It isn't necessary

                To count from 1 to 3.

The time flows

                Nicely.

 

But 4 brings fantasy.

                The fantasies don't subside.

They invade my nights

                As I approach 5.

 

My nights overflow

                To my days.

My God!

                The feelings giving me away!

 

I want to call--

                I want to feel--

O!  The passion to be laid!

 

 

 

I'm a volcano

                Ready to blow.

Can't you feel the heat?

                Can't you feel the lava flow?

 

Don't you know

                There's no place else

                I'd rather go?

 

Then I realize

                As I approach 7

That it's different time frames

                That we live in.

 

But can I be sure

                That this is all

                That is true?

 

Perhaps the feeling

                Has died

                Within you.

 

Just a word from you

                I want to hear,

                I say.

 

The words never came.

                Must be my fate.

                I'm way past 8.

 

 

B. Benjamin                                                                                                           

BBP5