You'Re Not For Me To Keep Poem by Euginia Tan

You're not for me to leash onto,
And drag along the borders of my moods.
I want to keep you closer than close,
And sometimes wish you would not go.
You're not for me to keep.
I forget - at times when I want company,
If only a snap of my fingers or a twirl of my hair
Could make you come to me.

But you run free and the grass under your feet
Bows according to the way you walk.
That is how it should be.
I cannot decide…
How the wind blows you away nor
How the sky turns dark and you are still not there by sunrise.

You're not for me to keep.
No matter how many stars I count to keep you safe,
They wink back and say to me -
Your wish is not my command.