Tides

by Corinne Caraway

I stand patiently before you and your 

inevitable urge to rush away from me again. 

I do my best to remember that you don’t mean it;

this is only the way you’ve always been.

Pushed and pulled by forces outside yourself; 

you do not remember how to be held by anything else. 

Staying will require more than a change of heart. 

So here I let myself settle into waiting,

for your return is as certain as your leaving. 

Though you always seem to be leaving 

me here with my affections, 

immune to all erosion and time, 

safely caught by my unwavering 

resolve to love you despite 

how I wish you would stay,

just once can you stay? 

Instead of carrying more 

and more of me away 

out to wherever you go 

when you are not here. 

Where do you go 

when you are not here?

Tell me who else is waiting

for you to leave. 

Will we ever learn

there’s no hope 

in loving 

what we 

can never 

keep?