lock screen

Why do we wait to respond
to each other’s texts, pretending
we are “busy”
pretending we are not excited
to see-

Your name pops up on my screen and
you flash in my memory, a smile
across my mind, the person
I want to talk to, to be with

and I push it aside.

To give it a few minutes, maybe more
until I forget and return later
as you wait for a reply
resisting conversation
as if there is some law against both of us
typing in the same DM
at the same time

Tag me, and I’ll look at it and maybe
twenty minutes later, like;
tapping a button that means a soft smile
not a laugh, not a hand on your shoulder
not a moment with you
I’ve been waiting to hear from, to see
the face, the eyes I think about, imagine
when trying to think of a clever reply

I should delete Instagram
and get rid of my iPhone too
and go see you
ring the doorbell like people did in old times
but I won’t.

I’d text first, something clever
carefully considered
giving nothing away, words that hide
the glint in my eyes, the shiver
down my spine I’ll wait.

© 2018