Protagonist

Protagonist

When I lay down at night,

I think of you.

I think of what will happen next,

What might happen,

What could happen,

A hundred futures in my hands.

Sometimes I rewrite the past,

Make you a jealous stepson

Or a jilted or jilting lover.

Sometimes I send you into peril,

And bring you out, changed but not diminished,

To teach you compassion.

It hurts, I know.

I try not to make you too handsome.

Too handsome makes me uncomfortable,

And I get to decide.

Sometimes I can almost feel your arms around me.

Sometimes I take away your friends,

Except that sometimes you are my best friend,

In the long, lonely nights.