by Jeremy Wayne Couch
The kitten curled on the floor at my feet
I wanted to stroke the soft, yellow hair,
but knew I must wait until our hands joined
in prayer for any kind of contact
The golden haired woman read my mind
with a camera flash she struck them blind
promising me the picture
of the one I sat near
mouthing the words
so the others wouldn't hear
We went into the lobby and joined hands and hearts
When our prayers had been uplifted
and our hands fell apart
a sudden fear of separation
clutched our hearts so we made plans
to gather at the Center
after I had walked the kitten home
She lives next door to me and I don't like
her walking alone at night
At the Center, our fear subsided
only to be replaced by hunger
so we went to the restaurant that serves buffalo burgers
the endangered-species-of-the-month special
according to my vegetarian houseguest
We ate and discussed our names
a Spanish title, a German heritage
juvenile high school jokes
The lovely dark lady shook my hand
because she is Clothing and I am Furniture
A young man sweeping the floor gave me four balloons
and I gave one to each of the others--
a terrible mistake
they turned them into swords and began slaying each other
until their weapons exploded
We returned to the Center
everyone being very, very quiet
because we were hunting rabbits and trying
not to wake vegetarian atheists
and housemoms from Hell
We went into my room and sat on the floor
The lovely dark woman and the quiet girl
whose broken glasses cover deeper scars
and the young man with the soft, yellow hair
and the voice of a radio spokesman
spoke to each other in French
The golden woman sat at my desk
talking to herself in Spanish
while German thoughts crossed my mind
I colored posters with highlighters
for the coffee house we would call Lazarus
if we ever succeeded in opening one here
while the lovely dark lady drew a picture
of a fish that could not see
and a turtle who could not speak
(Later, she would draw the rabbit,
her favorite animal,
who would not hear)
Evil
The golden woman slipped away
to sleep on the couch in the lounge
Everyone else wondered where she had gone
so they wandered out after her like sheep
I had to heard them back into my room
but before I had succeeded,
the dark lady was stopped
by the half-sized pop machine
she couldn't get over
I stood behind her as she stood transfixed
putting my arms around her shoulders
holding her as I leaned against her
each of us supporting the other
She claimed it lowered her blood pressure
As the blonde boy was talking to us
we decided we like the way he dresses
and the cologne he wears, too
We piled onto my bed
except for the golden woman
lounging in the lounge
and the quiet girl
with the broken glasses
who fears her father
She sat in a chair beside the bed
a part of us, yet apart from us
The blonde boy played
with the long, dark hair
of the olive skinned lady
as he massaged her back
His mother had told him
he had been ordered from a Sears catalog
and she'd send him back if he wasn't good
"When I was a girl . . .,"
the olive lady began
"Aren't you still a girl," we teased
"or is there something
you haven't told us?"
"I'm not like other girls."
"That's ok," I replied
"I'm not like other guys."
She couldn't help laughing
though she thought she shouldn't
It must have been time to go home
because the quiet girl put on her coat
The blonde boy told us about the book
on outhouses written by Willie Makit
and illustrated by Betty Wont
and another about tigers by Claude Balls
as he prepared to drive the van home
The golden woman was taking the dark
lady home with her so we all hugged our
good-byes as the sudden sadness of separation
clutched our hearts
The quiet girl and I began
walking to the dorms
I don't like her walking alone at night
but the blonde boy offered us a ride
The quiet girl accepted because
"It's late and a girl has a right to be tired."
After we had taken the quiet girl home
I told the blonde boy I could walk back
It wasn't far and it didn't make sense
for him to have to return
to the place he'd just left
but he said he'd give me a ride
since it was cold
so I let him because I like him
and didn't mind spending the extra time with him
I returned to the Center
and climbed into bed
As the clock changed from 2:59 to 3:00
I fell asleep dreaming
of Adonis' golden hair