Love's Empty Promise

Her words echoed within his ears
Tap dancing their way across his heart
“You are like the best guy ever.”
“I can always be myself around your.”
“You are like the brother I never had.”
“Becoming more than friends might destroy everything we have.”
Once again being right
Meant being wrong
He could never win
They had met on New Years Eve
Part of a larger group waiting for the big parade
Her dancing eyes had captured his imagination
Her love of life had been infectious
3:00 AM found them several miles from the parade route
On a hillside whispered life stories hung in the air between them
Awaiting the first sunrise of the New Year
They never heard the marching bands
Or experienced the beauty of the flora pageant
Together they discovered that their paths were intertwined
Destiny had brought them together
Now friendship was keeping them apart
Bitter tears splashed angrily upon the ground
A softball sized lump inside his throat
Made swallowing all but impossible
Whoever had coined the phrase
“Nice guys finish last.”
Must have been unlucky in love
Because from where he stood
Nice guys were never, ever lucky in love
Nice guys were brotherly
Nice guys made good friends
Nice guy were dependable
Apparently nice guys were dull and their lives mundane
Scoundrels found women in every nook and cranny
Scoundrels never wanted for dates or spent Fridays alone
Scoundrels got away with cold and indifferent
No matter, the women always came back for more
On the other hand
He was polite
He listened
He comforted broken hearts not created them
He dried tear stained cheeks never created tears
He always opened the door and picked up the tab
He never, ever expected candles and satin sheets on a first date
Yet here he stood once again
Kicked to the curb, heart in his hand
Repeating his mantra over and over again
Thank you ma’am may I have another
Once, for a brief moment in time
He had changed the lyrics to his song
He had crossed the street in a vain attempt
To join the leather jacketed scoundrels
He studied his role, he knew all the lines
But, he was unbelievable in the part
All knew him for the poser that he was
He had the wardrobe but not the act
For better or worse
He was a man who loved sunsets
Not tequila sunrises
He loved barefoot walks in warm summer sand
Not the wham bam of one night stands
He did not require a radio or movie screen
To prevent an awkward moment or two
He loved the quiet comfort shared with one who understands
He did not require a princess or a prima donna
He understood all to well that beauty was only skin deep
And that it was the quality of the soul that mattered

Yet here he was
Alone, once again
Another man might become a cynic
Another man might surrender
Another man, actually most men that he knew
Would laugh it all away
Running off in search of the shallow
No he knew, had always known
His life could never be that simple
Nor that empty

Drying his eyes
He walked home alone
Embraced by the darkness
Reaffirmed in his belief
That his patience would be rewarded
If he remained true to himself
He would in the end
Find the spiritual love
He so desperately desired