If you could take it back,
that kiss,
that prickly
jagged
in places I'm used to being smooth
kiss
I'd ask you to
we had been holding hands
like brother and sister
a very raggedy anne and andy kind of walk home
floppy, casual
almost skipping
there was nothing intimate about it
but I suppose my hand
and yours
were feeling two very different things
you stopped me quickly
mid-hop
and reached for my startled shoulders
your grasp unyielding
your gaze anything but chummy
you pressed your winter lips
against my astonished mouth
and your hand found it's way
under my coat
beneath my shivering tee-shirt
to the naked small of my back
perhaps you were caught
in your own moment
of pretend passion
of forced spontaneity
acting on something you had been feeling all night
or, maybe
you were just drunk and wanted to kiss someone
anyone
and I happened to be there
either way
if you could take it back
the sudden, back-alley kiss
the rugged
hard-lipped
i-don't-want-to-just-be-friends-anymore
kiss
I'd ask you to