waiting on ten

all relationships have a degree
of difficulty.
on a scale of one to ten,
I've experienced
most of them.
the impossible
at one, no trust, no
fun. two was not much better,
it took longer to figure
out the lies, maybe at three
we'll discuss
the possibilities.
there's hope at four,
despite the slamming of
doors.
five is in the middle,
it could go either way.
six, this could work,
we're on the plus side now.
seven,
not heaven but good.
eight, approaching great,
conversation and intimacy,
the missing of one another,
not quite cloud
nine,
but nine is
nice and easy, near perfect.
you could almost
call it love with conditions,
but ten,
I have no clue,
i'm waiting on ten, as most
of the world is.