Respecting Needs

Once…

I was want of roof.
WANT dreamed of skyline penthouses,

glass shimmering like frozen lightning.
But NEED arrived as a park bench,
its slats weathered silver by rain,
a moonlit arch of branches overhead
serving as ethereal spires of hope.
When hunger pressed in,
WANT painted rib‑eye on the air, juices hissing.
NEED answered with a dented can of Spam,
steam rising like a tiny flag of victory.

When…

My father stayed distant,
WANT reached for the thunder of his footsteps returning.
NEED offered envelopes—
creases soft from traveling miles,
ink looping like a tether across the dark.
When loneliness circled,
WANT pictured a crowd in warm lamplight.
NEED handed me music instead—
a single guitar string trembling
like a lighthouse beam across rough water.

So…

When comfort knocked with velvet promises,
WANT imagined cushions deep as summer clouds.
NEED welcomed me into Spartan rooms,
bare walls glowing with morning,
a cup, a mat,
space enough for breath to unfold.
And desire for love’s warmth, unmet,
softened under patience
until WANT’s firestorm cooled
into the steady ember of respect,
self, mutual, universal.

In this…

NEED remains the compass.
And in honoring only the essentials,
we walk lighter,
ending in a quiet place
where the lungs loosen,
and satisfaction settles
like evening light on open ground.