Brains on a Play Date

an engagement poem for my lovely fiancée

I take some time
each day to rewind
and peruse my selection
of self-deprecating reflections
like if a mental hospital had menus.

I look through it all
and am always enthralled
with the idea of something new.
But without you
the cycle continues.

My favorite meal -
an entrée of salisbury steak
with a side of real
contempt for potential mistakes.
And the cycle continues.

Trapped in myself
thoughts bounce and compound
Refusing all help
I circle the drain
and the cycle continues.

At the bottom of it all,
a rope lands at my feet.

When we met
I was a lifelong discontent
longer lost than not
and what we have, I could never expect.
The cycle continued.

We built our life
You help silence my mind
Although not lacking strife
we leave those things behind.
But the cycle still continues.

I may be stuck
with a nagging self-hate
but with any luck
you'll be there to shut me up
so we can both escape,
like brains on a play date.
I hope that cycle continues.

---

I wrote this for my fiancée and gave it to her as part of asking her to marry me. This is probably the piece I’m most glad to have written.

-Kyle