Ties that Bind

"You simply have too many ties,"
my lady friend informed me.
"Too many ties?" I responded.
"It just can't be. I mean,
that's like saying I have
too much love in my heart."
She guffawed. "You
really expect me to concede
that neckties have anything
at all to do with the love
in your heart? That's
a real stretch, Adam."
I stood scouring my mind
for all the poetic analogies,
the lyrical metaphors I could
imagine for ties as hearts and
hearts as ties. I tried my best.
"Anything that binds two people
together with grace and beauty
represents an act of love," I said.
"How is some tie going to bind us
together?" "Who knows, maybe
one day I'll wear the right one
and it will allow you to see
a beauty in me you've never
seen before." "And we'll
be lost forever in sophomoric
but sublime romantic bliss?"
"Something like that."
"Why don't you show me
that cool blue one with
the red squares again?"

(2006)