29th
1-29
Unrequited
I look at the other girls
the ones who gaze longingly
into the bridal magazines and boutique windows
the ones who know where they will wed
an imaginary Knight that they have not met
I stare into the sad desperate eyes
of the one who came from California
to pursue a Broadway dancer’s dream
and now puts that same fervor
into grasping not the brass but the diamond ring
I look at the other girls
the ones who gaze longingly
during each party, church service and gathering
the ones who nervously clutch their phones
waiting for someone they don’t yet know to call
I stare into the overly hopeful eyes
of the one who fled the suburban New Jersey
for a more undefined life of creativity
and now acts with such passivity
bending over backward to please someone who doesn’t care
I stand on the outside looking in
and wonder why I’ve never been the one
to dream about a day that everyone else does
Not shunning the idea of lifelong partnership
but knowing that I am secure in my solitude
content in the life I have no authority to plan
And if marriage comes, as it often does, a pleasant surprise
then I will be the one who gazes longingly
into the eyes of the one who can really see me
