Abscence
Do you remember last night?
Chinese food lingered in the air and we
passed chicken between slippery chop
sticks Our laughter brought us up
only to place us down again
gently within the closed circle
of candlelight glowing around its edges
from the fuzz of warm
soup in our bellies
After
we made love Aphrodite
would be proud of
I thought you were sleeping
until you pulled me in for one
last inhale kiss from that deep
place between dream and sleep
I don't have all the words anymore
I forgot a few under that first bed
a mattress on the floor
and then some at your parents'
a little at my own a little more
in this new room so many new
after we've lost each other again
I begin to lose track
of which night how long ago since
We ate breakfast 13 hours ago
and I haven't seen you since
Will you be drunk when you
come to bed tonight Will you
I see you
You soon
I'm no longer concerned with the
you, nor the
you I thought you would become
what strangers
we bother are to ourselves to anyone
before I knew
the bed we slept on and the price
we paid for burning in it I'm only
interested in finding you
held me like security
bathed my
unshed tears in light
clear and loving and
of two years ago
before and after death
exlusion was
who kissed me last night
Elizabeth Marzloff