Want and Need

Want and Need (24th November, 2011)

The weight of your silence makes me feel old:
lead weight replacing a promise of gold.
Resurrect your idol just where she fell,
on the sword of vision, halfway to hell.

I don’t need to be the change that you seek:
as I rise again, I find my thoughts bleed.
Head runs in circles - we share the same goal;
here I was thinking you’d ignite my soul.

I’ve been dwelling in a closeted life,
caught in a dream, asleep, or cast in ice.
But you are the fire that melts; you are heat,
the antidote to a heart that won’t beat.

This is what I’ve learned: touch fire, you’ll be burned.

I don’t need to read; I just need to hear.
I don’t need to hate; I just need to fear.
I don’t need your love; I just need a friend.
I don’t need a bomb; I just need a pen.

Pass me the scroll of your heart to write on,
and I will phrase just one final question:
Why shoot the blind man who wishes to see?
You were what I want; I have a new need.

Jennifer Pickup