ON THE OCCASION OF MY LOVER'S CELIBACY

The moon is a hard white rock
disenchanting
These many months my
lover has withdrawn her
fingers rippling through my skin
like dreams her tongue like velvet
walking I am
not to take this personally I
lay next to her and
swallow the moon analytically as
she sleeps I
move next to her and am
reasonable as the stars in the sky as
she sleeps I
sink like a sunset into the horizon I
am without her loving groundless
hollow as the clouds I
fold myself into an Origami swan
floating on some other lake entirely I
will be as graceful
about this as I
can be






---




YOU KNOW IT WAS A LOUSY YEAR

when the most exciting thing that happened
was watching your Chia Pet grow.
You know it was a lousy year when
the only extra toothbrush in the apartment
belonged to your sister -
then she came and took it back.
You know it was a lousy year when
the one person you liked at work quit -
to work in a toilet - in a transvestite disco -
and that was a step up from the old job.
You know it was a lousy year when they dug up Elvis -
and he was still dead.
You know it was a lousy year
when you finally got laid - by that hairy Chia Pet.
And you know it was a really lousy year
when the best thing you wrote all year
was this one lousy thing
about what a lousy year it was.









---




MIDNIGHT FOR YOU

I throw off the covers sweating,
make eyes at the darkness,
try to figure out where I am.
I feel your lips against me, as if you're in the room.
I'm always trying to kiss you.
You're always running away.
Tonight you kiss me back,
a hot, sweet plaintive kiss,
then run into the hallway crying.
I fold my arms around you.
You beat your fists against me.
I want to know who hurt you,
why you can not love me.
I bolt straight up,
bark at the darkness,
your kiss still dripping down my face,
slipping into midnight.









Chocolate Waters
© 1996

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