Monolog For An Absent False Friend Poem by Dennis Ryan

August 25,2006

"my emotional reaction caught me off-guard"
- HART

I don't know what to say to you—
I've never felt such ambivalence toward anyone.
I know how you communicate when you want to.
I also know your stubborn, uncommunicative ways.
We can't clear up our misunderstandings if we never talk,
and we hardly talk anymore.I know: you can't clear a space for me—
I've always known.I've always known you'd lie in the end
to protect yourself.When you're afraid your eyes get wide—
like a deer's caught in the headlights. Sorry, I had to keep trying, .