but when from me a lot you ask
and I feel the rewards might be worth the task
what few things I need in return, I'll tell

if you offer them in error or in lies
promises made, unsure, by your heart untried
their collapse will be a shock, a nasty truth

you've grown so used to my patience now,
you might have expected me to know just how
to recover no matter what you put me through

but can you really expect me to do all this -
to heal over and over again with just a kiss?
when what I asked of you so clearly was denied

you are still free to be yourself;
but I cannot help you fuel this fire
any longer; the soft and giving me has died

11/6/01 - 3 AM