you keep his name
losing yours
stuffed – like your old journals –
into corrugated cardboard
packed in the corners
of well worn attics
the sanctity of marriage
the subversion of love
the taste of a woman plays
out of frame
but you have kittens
and shelter
and a husband
n. 1. a man joined to a woman in
marriage; a male spouse.
2. chiefly British a male manager
or steward, as of a household. 3. archaic: a prudent, thrifty
manager
who
CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT YOU
need not yours: sweet sweet
wine leaving you so damn thirsty
so you just drink more
need not yours: it’s like, it’s like
you don’t ever have to fold
desire’s origami into the shape
of you
cloud dragons on
an ocean day
skin by streetlight
slanting through blinds
n. 2. something, such as a window
shade or a Venetian blind,
that hinders vision or shuts
out light
3. a shelter for concealing
hunters or nature
photographers
4. something intended to conceal
the true nature, especially
of an activity; a subterfuge]
how friends can we be
when I only slant through
a cell phone call in the twenty minutes
between
work and your exit home?
1 birthday card.
1 christmas card.
email generalities with colon smiles.
pixels do not bear the weight
of any presentfuturepast
not to mention
that I still get hard thinking of you
and
occasionally
very
late
at night
drunk on my own folded perceptions
(and mis ones at that)
when I conjure your salt-lick taste
I whisper empty words
that you will never hear
and I believe. at least until I cum
n. 1. the thick white fluid
containing spermatozoa that is
ejaculated by the male
genital tract]
just a kiss you said.
it was march. 2 pots of tea.
walking to your car.
on the east side of providence.
the sky was unremarkable.
but your lips aren’t yours anymore
are they?
and our past isn’t ours anymore, is it?
in this present tense marriage
n. 2. the state of being married;
wedlock
4. games. the combination of the
king and queen of the same
suit, as in pinochle]
we both lie in our beds
the dimensions are just different.
that’s all.
3.02.04 – 3.06.04