Boy Down the Street

Boy Down the Street

all of him
yearned and ached
for the girl
down the street
to permit him
to love her
as he wished
she'd love him

his aching
his yearning
his restlessness
at wanting
to love her
proof
if there was 
any fairness
in the world
her love
would someday
be his

to further prove
to himself
her and the world
the sincerity 
of his love and goodness
he left her
a letter
anonymously professing
his secret admiration

he scrawled it
by candlelight
laboring and distressed
over each word
and syllable
until
it was perfect
with all of him
left there
so vulnerable
on the page

then he nervously
dropped it
at her doorstep
and sat home
anxiously
waiting
and waiting
and waiting
for a just
and sympathetic world
to work
its magic

one day
not long after
she found
another
to love her
one who ached
and yearned
far less
than the boy
down the street
but one
who at least told her
at the risk of refusal
what he desired

so the boy
down the street
never forgave her
or any of her kind
or the world
for that matter
for denying him
what 
he deserved
for possessing
such a uniquely sweet 
and tender heart
that forever
yearned
and ached
as much
as his
always 
did