Pushing Buttons

Pushing Buttons

By

Nathan Caleb Camerer

You push my buttons

Like a secretary

Who types 120 words a minute

Every key on the keyboard

Has a different function

They are being pressed so fast

That I’ve lost control of my thoughts and words

You treat our friendship

Like a call center rep.

Treats the last call of the day

All you want to do is go home

Drink a mug of wine

Watch the DIY Channel

So you give me just enough help

To keep me from taking my business elsewhere

And you stick to the corporate script

When it comes to the big questions

Which means I get no real answers

I’m like a too loyal dog

With a shock collar

And you have the button

As well as an underground perimeter fence

It’s not to keep me from getting out

It’s to keep me from getting in

My love is like the perfect house

In the perfect location

But you have to rent

And you’re the absentee landlord

Who answers just enough phone calls

And puts forth just enough effort

To help get rid of the fleas

So I won’t move

My soul, my spirit

My faith, my belief

Are the stone

That falls out of an engagement ring

Lost in the falling leaves

Of the Autumn of our love

My heart

Is a play toy

That hangs from a string

And you’re the cat

That plays with it

But only with half interest

My mind

Is a cardboard box

Full of old photos

And love letters

And old clothes

The memories of us

That you throw lighter fluid on

Every chance you get

My future is a jigsaw puzzle

All the pieces are in front of me

But putting it together

Is proving to be more than I can do

Without a partner