Contained - Orlando

If you don’t mind waiting, I will be near

Saying the only words you want to hear

And while we are talking, our eyes must not meet--

A smile of sincerity is a crime on these streets

Pacts held at lunchtime, lunch left to waste

Speaking of life and books (well, what ELSE in that place?)

In these drab, loveless buildings that all look the same

You are my teacher--but I am contained

I may laugh, but I am only to blame

Words that could SAVE me I kept so contained

In that tip of a summer, nothing could mar

Those tentative times in that wreck of a car

I was yours for the asking, a child afraid

Sent unfettered letters, postage unpaid

In identical avenues that no one would miss

The world could not touch us, but we could not kiss.

For in this life that is

measured out in bus stops and rain

You were my teacher--but I was contained