Free Verse
Occasional
Lover
Afterwards
Taking in the room
I stop at the shrine of pictures
on your bureau:
family, the family dog
the soon-to-be-ex-husband
But no sign that I was ever here
no trace of my impact on you
except an unmade bed and
you coming out of the bathroom
looking flummoxed and happy.
I want my legacy to be more
than a sly smile that fades
over coffee and toast
More than walls that echo with the
passions of the desperate and lonely
More than a brief memory painted
on the breath of night evaporating
like the dew at sunrise.
Occasional Lover was previously
published in The Hunger and Fire and Rain,
Vol. 2 (Lummox Press).
Second Skin
When we first made love
(It wasn’t screwing – that came later)
I was holding my breath
I was afraid to exhale
Afraid I would disturb the
Moment and you would
Blow away
I had what you wanted and
You had what I needed
No one had touched
Me the way you did
In a long time
You pulled me to you
Your lips grazing my
Shoulder and gasped
As I kissed the nape of your neck
Later I watched you dress
Wearing my scent like
A second skin
Second Skin was previously
published in The Hunger and Fire and Rain,
Vol. 2 (Lummox Press).
Love Poem
Lying beside you
in the darkness
listening to Joni Mitchell
on this hot July night
our arms entwine
your hair is in my mouth
my belly presses against your back
and
we breath softly
and slowly
and
I never thought
that I would
know
this
peace
again
Love Poem was previously published in Paper Heart
(Lummox Press); and Fire and Rain, Vol. 1 (Lummox
Press).
