Tentative Tango
Tentative Tango
One, an unfamiliar smile
I don’t know how to understand.
Fingertips brush my waist, hem
of shirt, pale skin untouched
by sun. Hot breath on my ear,
body to body. Hand resting
in the small of my back. I want to
not want you as much as I do.
Two, palm runs down my side
breast to thigh. Breathe your sharp
scent. Gasp for forgiveness. Push
away, pull me close, make me
melt into seductive warmth.
Mold to match your form.
I am in over my head, and I
like not being able to breathe.
Three, tempo moves too fast,
past the barrier that was your
car door. Pressed to you,
horizontal, clothing optional.
I can’t keep up with four/four time.
Wonder if Eve knew what she
was getting into. Did she know
fear before the fruit?
Four, I can’t understand myself.
Fear, frustration, desire, despair,
give me room to breathe, I’m not
ready to go without air, not ready
to take that bite, not ready to
want you. My skin aches as you
pull away, disappointed. I guess
I don’t know how to dance.
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Poison Apple
The church is cold as I perch on my pew.
The heater is broken again, third time
this winter. The preacher has begun his
sermon, but all I hear is the silence of your
absence.
My phone rings. It should turn it off,
especially since it’s playing our song.
I know it’s you. I shouldn’t answer.
I stand and duck out to the lobby.
I know judgmental looks are following me.
Your hesitant hello send heat coursing
through my frozen veins, awakening
my stifled senses. Brother Phillip’s
voice echoes over the loud speaker,
but his words are as distant as God.
All I hear is your heavy breathing.
Gas Prices Skyrocket
He bluffed, “It’s the cheapest you’ll find a vintage sports car.”
She huffed, “It looks rather new for a vintage sports car.”
Love for the ages: soft, steady, slow, and sweet, or a
flame: fast, beautiful, and deadly, like a vintage sports car.
Pulling off her shirt she felt revealed, reviled, repulsive,
telling herself it’s not trashy if you do it in a vintage sports car.
Cherry red, blood red, red wood. Scattered under moonlight.
On the accident report they called it a vintage sports car.
Heaven forbid honesty! Hide your feelings, your secrets,
undercover. Like in the driveway, a vintage sports car.
Status symbols: a Rolex watch, a million bucks, a
yacht in the bay. Trade your wife for a vintage sports car.
The past thrown away, left to rot and not be remembered.
Left to decompose in a junkyard next to a vintage sports car.
Lost, lonely, loveless? Ditch the club, forget online dating.
One thing that can never leave you: A vintage sports car.
To escape your problems you must run far away.
My suggestion? Zero to sixty in a vintage sports car.
A gold-digging robbery! Get away with his money, his heart,
a license plate reading RAY-RAY on a vintage sports car.
Passing By
His heart took a swan dive,
spelunking into his stomach with
a sickening splash. He could see
the hate in her eyes,
the hurt he’d brought her.
He had to look away.
He sees his stark reflection in the
glass of the door before it
slides silently away, welcoming him
into the forgiving warmth of the store,
warmth he knows he doesn’t deserve.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Before our first date you bought me white lilies. I guessed you didn’t know the symbolism. But as the two of us become one for the who-knows-what time – you, deep inside me and I, clenched tight around you – I wonder if you did. Sometimes I feel as if we have become dead together. Your burning skin pressed against me, answering my need, no longer smells like cinnamon, only sweat. As your lips caress my collarbone, my breast, my navel you no longer taste strawberry, only salt. This four-story apartment building, box-shaped and bland, no longer is a stepping stone to a better life, but just another reminder of how our plans fell through. I remember the lilies as your hands squeeze my aching flesh, too warm for a corpse. The sun rises and the birds chirp and I convince myself that we are not yet dead. Even if that sun has long faded our yellow curtains. Even if we hardly speak. Even if you no longer call me liebe, though we still make love. Even if your touch is the only thing I’m still living for.
Open
That brief moment you hold me so tight
your arms tremble and your voice
breaks and for that brief moment I see
into your heart and soul, your very being
and I see how you long for me and you
ache as I ache, ache to pull me closer
to bring you in to make you a part of me of
you of we not two, one being held together by
a silver cord of connection that no one or
two can sever, the pain in your eyes when I
must let go since I am one and you are one and
together we are still two not one but
someday the goodbye will cease and I see
for that moment you long as I long and I
know no doubt because I see you and you
see me and we are as close as the sea to the shore.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Before our first date you bought me white lilies. I guessed you didn’t know the symbolism. But as the two of us become one for the who-knows-what time – you, deep inside me and I, clenched tight around you – I wonder if you did. Sometimes I feel as if we have become dead together. Your burning skin pressed against me, answering my need, no longer smells like cinnamon, only sweat. As your lips caress my collarbone, my breast, my navel you no longer taste strawberry, only salt. This four-story apartment building, box-shaped and bland, no longer is a stepping stone to a better life, but just another reminder of how our plans fell through. I remember the lilies as your hands squeeze my aching flesh, too warm for a corpse. The sun rises and the birds chirp and I convince myself that we are not yet dead. Even if that sun has long faded our yellow curtains. Even if we hardly speak. Even if you no longer call me liebe, though we still make love. Even if your touch is the only thing I’m still living for.
So ends the collection, To Save A Wretch Like Me. I hope you enjoyed, whether you read the entire collection, or only caught a few poems along the way. If you haven't had a chance to read the whole thing but enjoyed what you saw, I'd encourage you to go back to the beginning and read the collection, since I think it works well as a combined product. Whatever your feelings on my work, though, I'd love to hear from you, praise, critique, comments, or questions. Or jokes. Whatever, really.
Thank you for reading!
Deja Vu
I’ll make everything up to you, love.
Hands grasping hers, knee against the steering wheel.
The shadow of the steeple blankets them
through the windshield, crossing his heart.
He is Judas, throwing back the silver.
He is not who he was. Neither is she.
And yet they’ve been here before.
Spring
Cut through the pallid skin of the fresh corpse of winter. Bleed beginnings.
The close of winter is a silent night, still darkness giving in to a vibrant day.
Dying frost. Awakening Blooms. Welcome to a new world.
Sweet, the scent of birdsong and blue.
In the movies, this is where the newborn enters the scene.
The dawn light breaks on pale pink, the bright call
of miles to go before I sleep.
I swear it’s too hot for this time of year.
Venus, why bring love in Spring if it dies in winter?
Dying minus the end equals resurrection.
Liar
You forced a laugh and told me
You were heartless
As your head fell into your hands,
Hiding a pained smile.
I’m glad you’re a liar.
