In Response

Yes, I will confess it—
I don’t understand you,
and often I don’t even
care to try.
Why should I, when
at a moment’s notice
you will change,
forget your cares,
and be impatient
with my reluctance
to keep pace
with your emotions?
I’m sorry
that I cannot switch from
despair to hilarity
and back again
as effortlessly
as a skater glides
across the ice.
I’m sorry
that you cannot hear
your life
cracking beneath you.
I prefer to stay on shore
and watch you go
through the motions
of living, your arms out
for the balance
you can never maintain.