How Can I Tell You I Love You Poem by Donward Caniete Bughaw

I rehearse your name in silence every night,
And fold it in the spaces where words don't fit.
The room goes quiet when you step into the light,
While I pretend my heart is used to it.  

I laugh at all your jokes a second too long,
And watch the way your eyes forget to stay.
I write you poems I will never send along,
Then delete them before the break of day.  

How can I tell you I love you
When the world has already chosen your hand?
How can I tell you I love you
When I'm just the echo you don't understand?   

So I'll keep loving you from the safest distance,
A secret prayer I carry in my chest.
If fate won't let you be mine in existence,
Let me at least have loved you with my best.