my intentions, 9/5/10

Her family worries about my intentions
With grumbled growls and articulate threats
and exasperated shrugs and
"O not another one"
Avuncular disapproval and sisterly menace
They worry about my intentions
which is a laugh
To have intentions is to have a plan
and I'm winging this at best
What I want, what I need
is to keep this thing,
whatever it is,
as long as I can
To give her all the parts of me she wants,
second best though they may be,
as long as she wants,
and to hold the rest in reserve
For maybes and somedays
that thing with feathers
They worry about my intentions
Casual assurances that I can win them over
met with somber shakes of the head
Not on this flat earth,
under this umbrella moon
They worry about my intentions
which are to hold onto this thing,
whatever it is,
for as long as I can,
then to keep what's left
in the soft places
the warm places
where I keep the precious things
the lost things
the irreplaceable things
But her family worries about my intentions
Hell, so do I