It sneaked up on me.

Just when I thought I had it
hidden under enough protective
layers of leathered, worldly armor,
enough coats of frost-bitten cynicism,
and a strong
enough facade of masculine detachment,
it assailed me
and the creaking buttresses
that hold up my fragile interior
collapsed under the merciless
assault of the song Always.
And there it was, the tender
surge of warm, salty feeling,
and the involuntary welling up
of my eyes, because she was
sitting next to me, and I wanted her
to know that what she was hearing
was really coming
from me.