Calculated Misplacement Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Calculated misplacement,
Are your emotions shown.
But unknown to my feelings,
Attempting to connect them.
A sincerity meant yet sent,
From your face that appears preoccupied and distant.
And getting more rehearsed are your words.
Understood but I don't feel.
And more rehearsed are your words to be heard.
But not felt to feel them.
When I knew them spoken,
Once so certain I believed them real.
Now I'm left to question,
If there is something from me...
You'd rather keep secret to leave concealed.

How is it that your heart can beat,
Completely depleted of expressed empathy.
How is it that your heart can beat,
Without cause to find reason or rhyme.
For understanding.
And yet from me,
You demand to be understood.
How I wish that I could.
If you would let me.

Your calculated misplacement,
Shows more than you know to expose.
Much more that it brings a chill,
To my once warm toes.
Curling from your touch.
Only I thought I knew to know.