What I said briefly to you
Is what you will remember,
And what I practiced, long hours in the dark,
Will make no impression at all.
I worried about my imperfect face,
My impetuous, nerdy voice,
But you liked me at a glance—because I was tall.
I don’t wish it to be easy. I want to climb
A week’s journey into the clouds sighing in your mind.
Your body? I will get around to that next time.
What a sarcastic smile in a beautiful face
Can do. It taught me to fear one thing: disgrace.
I can repeat in the mirror of my memory
Safely and tactfully your irregular beauty.
This mirror is the secret to how men fall.
I didn’t know this until I wrote you a poem.
And it made no impression at all.
