Crowdpleaser

what I love about you
is your hands.
no need for concern
on my part about being held.

they move and
sound off. I understand that.
it’s a way of using hands
that I have grown to love.

there is the striking,
but it’s not a striking
to worry about. sometimes
you make a noise without

using your hands. I can enjoy that
from here, all the lights keep me
from seeing your mouths.
seeing you bend the ear

of the person next to you
might tweak me a little, but
the hands fluttering and snapping
take my mind off that.

afterward I wait and you will
come to me and try to talk to me.
that is the best part because I find out
how well I hid the fear.

after that is the night
and the way home. there’s the desk
and the guitar and the bills and the way
back to the crowd.

you can follow me home
if you promise
to bring those wonderful hands with you
and never let me see your mouth.