Patience your breath is hot
on the back of my neck
patience please patience stop
I am not

the one you thought me to be

on the hilltop
silhouetted
against the glow
of a city burning
faithful to the fact that the fire will go out

and we will be standing still
with hands
ready to rebuild


but
it is not a city burning is it
it is not any kind of armageddon
it is just a woman
with a lover
who is far away
and has been and will be so for some time to come

perhaps I would do better with a fire
(though I wish it not)

patience still I beg you
pleaseI am tired.
patience stop
I am not

the one you thought me to be.