How Could You Ask Me That?

i just woke up to the smell of you
although i found nothing with your scent
it haunts my nights because i wish
i was holding you

despite the fact that it is 3:29 am
and exhaustion is fighting my senses,
it is overcome by thoughts of tomorrow,
missing you, the empty room down the hall,
and your warm lips

seeing you was my reason to get out
of bed every morning
and this morning, i am afraid because
waking up will mean you are leaving me

strange how i dread the very hour i look
forward to because i will hold you again
knowing it is closer to the end
i pray that it is also a beginning

you have been so much more to me than
a boyfriend or lover or soulmate
you have become my best friend
and i will always love you for that as much
or more than i love you because you are part of me

i don't know how to say goodbye to you
i don't believe (or don't want to believe)
that it will be goodbye, but rather,
a physical separation that cannot keep me from your warmth.

your song touched me much like all of your songs do
and much like your fingertips and lips do
thank you for us-- what we were and what we will be
i will never forget, i will never regret, and i will
never lose that piece of you
Aug 14, 1998