No Metaphors Poem by Tumisang Ramarea

'I love you, ' is a metaphor
They watered down to 'I like you'
In 'merica. It's better for
Me to tell this upright to you.
Spill the secrets of my longing heart
That should be carried to the grave.
Of how time slows when we're apart,
But races when I'm with you, my fave.

I tell you that in your warm embrace
I feel most at home. You are familiar,
Like we've met in another time and place.
In a world where you were Ma'am Illia.
I speak to you of these feelings,
But isn't that also metaphoric?
Will I be accused of shady dealings
'cause I find your presence euphoric?
I tell you every time you hug me
I always wish for you to hold on
For just a little while longer. We
Had fun before you had to be gone.
Before you left the crib at Wellsbury,
My spirit used to awake with a melody.
Fix you some pancakes, eggs to carry
You through the day. A sweet memory!
I tell you how much I miss you each
Time I make dinner because the best
Dinners were with you within reach.
How did my heart fall for the guest?
You make talking to you so easy because
I feel emotionally safe in your presence.
Your arrival was a necessary recourse
In a community that missed my essence.
Listening to your voice is enchanting;
You speak with honesty and passion.
Your words soften my heart, supplanting
Its previous form. Its walls, they crash in
I tell you of how you captivated my gaze
The first time I laid eyes on your being.
Drop-dead gorgeous with the best face
I had seen on the farm, I was seeing…

Without the metaphors I have no
Plausible deniability. I have borne
The secrets in my heart for you to know.
Now it is the time for you to warn
Me, share with me your heart's truth.
If friendship is all it seeks, then who
Am I to refuse? But if with all its youth
It resonates, then let me woo you!