i know what it means to miss new orleans

i’ll never write a love poem

only brief synopses of the admiration i fear

instead let me tell you a story

i’ll love you like a woman

i’ll cherish you when the world is too much at your feet

and i’ll sing to you when you cannot sleep

don’t worry now

about what will come

there’s no use in looking back

when we both know what we come from

i’ll listen to your stories

the ones you’re afraid of, i know

i’ll burn your bridges when you’ve reaped what you can sow.

but this isn’t a love poem; please don’t get confused.

just let me show you, in time, the way i can love you.

i won’t squeeze you till you’ve got no fruit to bear

instead, i’ll taste you on my tongue when the winter stares

you are already complete, as am i, allow me to promise:

i’ll never bleed you dry.

we don’t have to fight, i’ll just love you with all of my might.

we don’t have to yell, i’ll force myself out of my shell.

and we don’t have to rush, just hold my hand as we drift through no man’s land.

i’ll catch you the sweetest air to breathe

from my ventures in the sky

i’ll bring you a cloud when you’re tired of your own sound

i’ll fill your cup if you promise to fill mine

and i’ll show you what it means to miss me

i’ll show you how the days are sunnier in my haze

you’ll see, on the nights you can’t sleep, how the moon glows in my relief.

rainstorms will feel like melodies

and hurricanes will have you singing my name.

i’ll let you be

i’ll let you see

and if i need to, i’ll let you leave.

i won’t clip your wings while i fly high in the sky

i’ll shout love down 6 miles high

and when it’s time for me to go, just know, i too know what it means to miss new orleans.

my dear let’s not think of what we fear

let’s allow life to pass us by as we think of what to wear

and when that time comes, as she must

just know i’ll still be there.

in the city that doesn’t sleep

i’ll be dreaming of your care.

you’ll know what it means to miss new orleans

and i’ll know what it means to tie my own strings and maintain my own affairs

but until then, or after then, or forever then,

[if that’s what life wishes]

let me hold you in all of your might

until my red morning light

says it’s time

to say

goodnight.