loyd.net

Easily I fall
Yet never divulge but
Well conceal it.
Yet I know you know--
That annoys me
As much as the infatuation itself.
Still I tell you far too much--
I might as well,
You see through my defenses.

You are the exception
That tests the rule,
That finds the weakness in my barricade.

Never would I flirt,
But if I tease
It is only because I could not possibly be serious.
Even then I have always stayed within the bounds
Of propriety.
Yet I've shocked myself
At my shameless,
Even inappropriate, words
Which I've heard myself speak in your presence.

You are the exception
That tests the rule,
That turns my joking into innuendo.

My usual demeanor
Around one to whom I am attracted
Is silence and coldness
Lest I betray my secret.
I shun the touch of even my closest friends
And few there are whom I would willingly embrace.
Yet I do not shirk your arm about me
But respond in kind
And welcome even a kiss on the cheek.

You are the exception
That tests the rule,
That melts my iciness with the warmth of your hand.

Few there are whom I have known
That I have found of interest,
And fewer still there are
Who have dared show an interest in me.
Though few there are in those two sets
Fewer still there are who meet both criteria,
For the intersection is null--
Or so it always has been.
Yet I suspect
(I may be wrong but still suspect)
That your fondness for me
Is not unlike that which I have for you,
That n=1.

You are the exception
That tests the rule,
That changes the equation.

Never have I cared for children
For I cannot comprehend them.
I have never met your children
Yet I adore them--
I have only seen them through your adoring eyes.
Though I could never bear to bear children of my own
It seems to me a loss to humanity
That our DNA will never be blended.

You are the exception
That tests the rule,
That gives birth to new desires.

Always have I drawn a line
And those beyond declared off-limits.
Never would I consider one
Who belonged to another
Thus never could I fall
For one I could never attain.
Anyone whom I loved I would love rightly,
Should he love another I would rejoice for him,
For love that knows jealously or covetousness is not love.

You are the exception
That tests the rule by which I live,
That tests my resolve.

Mementos I'd hoped I'd be spared this Revisited