If Nothing Else

Give me this, if nothing else

You don’t understand

Or you don’t care

Fine!

Just give me this

If nothing else

A moment to tear

A moment free of fears

A moment alone

A moment to feel alive

Like a bench with any view

Watching people move

In and out of my reality

In and out of breath

Cold air and bored stares

Memories like fantasies

That I dress up with lies

And more questions why

Give me this, please!

If nothing else

How beer tastes

When you’ve been desensitized to everything else

How love feels

After you’ve given up on it

How beautiful she looks

When you’ve already fallen out of love with her

I don’t understand either

I just try to

If nothing else

I don’t know if there’s a God

Or something after

This waste of time

I don’t know if what I believe in is true

Or even if I truly believe in it

I’m just here wasting time, like you

Wandering around in the dark

Pretending I know or believe

Or that it matters

If nothing else

Give me this

Please!

ⓒ 2001 Shawn Michael Quinn