The Favored

The Favored Center of attention Knaves and would-be lovers tangle rapturously in words That slip from her tongue in silken eloquence A sweet cascade of wanton thought All ears within this space entombed Wait restlessly to hear her next remark And breathless expectations hang in silence All the more fulfilling for their pains  They wonder at this mortal who, so much unlike myself, Can serve to them their hearts upon a tray While yet they watch So helplessly bemused by artful guile
 Here I, the keeper of the peace with aching heart Wish desperately to catch the falling crumbs And form of them a way to learn this grace To hold within my hands this thing elusive This riddle that I’ve failed to understand While all the while these words Held captive in my mind Begin to tremble with the need to be set free
 “Look at me!” “See me!” “I’ll never hurt you, tease you, leave you, break your heart!” “I want only to be known and to be seen for who I am - Held separate and apart, not part of her To have something that is ever all my own That cannot be distracted by the banter and the guise To see me, and me alone – be mine, all mine To fascinate, to love, to form a thought. Is it really all too much to ask?"
 Laughter bleeds back into my hearing I look around at nothing that has changed And all that is the same
 Center of attention So far away from me, so unconcerned I am companion to the favored - nothing more As still and calm I sit In utter silence