The snail's crawl

I didn't have time
To get used to looking at you
To turn your ugly parts pretty
Because you kept poking at sore spots
Making me wince
Driving me farther away from you


You tried to pull me closer
Put a hand on my cheek
The other around my throat
And tugged
When you should have taken my hand
And let me draw you to me


It would have taken time
The snail's crawl
But we might've gotten to the grass across the sidewalk
Instead of always baking on the hot tarmac
Cars missing us by a hairsbreadth
You dripped adrenaline
But oxytocin was the key


I could never be your clamoring Buttercup
I could never be your fiending Harley
I could only be myself
And she was not what you need