I Don't Do this Thing Called Love

I don't date anymore
i don't dine with girls
and i don't entertain

i buy girls lunches
i buy them dinners
and i listen to them vent
all their days worries and troubles
minor anecdotes
and sob stories.

smiling and nodding at the appropriate moments
injected with suitable anecdotes
of people i know
or once knew
of things with little relevence

i sit at the table,
elbows resting.
chewing the thumb end of my clasped hands
vacantly watching their eyes
as hand gestures and lips
juggle stories of nothing across at me

I don't date anymore
I don't dine with girls
but i entertain them
and get nothing in return