Genetics Of Caring

Many would question
why I stay
as if it were easy
to pull the plug
on the unpredictable
waves of a romance
when base desires
are clouded by weighty matters

But that never means
that the heart hasn't blossomed;
compassion evolves
and there are delicate
mysteries that cement such bonds

I see shadings of my own grandfather,
devoted to loving what some couldn't understand
in an era in which no definitions existed
to explain the erratic shifts of bipolarity

This familiar way of caring
has infiltrated this life
and the truth is
certain days when the blockade
of a closed room
and the unspoken "do not disturb"
energy permeates this house
that disconcerting sensation
is difficult to ignore

But if I couldn't nurse the despair,
if only to listen
my conscience could not bear
to abandon a fellow human
in that fragile state

I can never deny
this tempo is challenging to match;
soul grooves jump to metal
and my feet can't always
adapt to the sporadic timing

I may not always see appreciation
in my efforts to navigate,
and sometimes I will drift
to uncomplicated places
of free-range nudity
and non-restrictive passions
- but only in mind

Love has taken unexpected detours
and I still don't understand the complexities,
but if I said I loved you
it might be my only means
to show it.