Two
Lovers in a Rainbow Colored BoxPartitioning the variance
Between smiles floating across the room
The spacious declarations
Of separate worshippings for the moon.
The talk of calcified lovers
And estranged friendships gone by.
The images and sparkles
The vibratory waves that my mother talked about.
I feel the gentleness with which
Sound divides air in little kisses.
But then the whore over my shoulder
Cocks her head and flutters her eyelashes
And he responds with a nervous laugh
Which sets the atmosphere to pealing
Paint chips off the walls.
And the room, breathing, begins to cough.
What they both want is a little tomb,
And he would like to curl up in my womb,
If it weren't for her
Making ridiculous and grotesque flutterings
Behind the bars of her little wire cage.
A candle just went out somewhere
Left of center stage.
And the awkward foot shuffling scenario
Begins to beg.
Oh, that's not right, I don't know
Someone's thoughts tangle in a web.
Another puts his chin on drawn-up knees
And sighs, eyes drawn to the piling carpet
A little panic and I reach for my other hand
Clasp the little flower soul and lock it in a crystal jar.
What could all this mean?
I hear myself through the echoing silence
Where restless pacing is giving itself up
Asking to be forgiven and could we forget?
My dear companion is making jokes into the wind
Flinging little dream-fires into the din.
Walking the gauntlet, I point across at him,
You're only asking me to give up belligerent sin.
Oh no, that's not it; I can feel the spiral widen
Loosen its boa constrictor grip on veils of hope
Layers of reality and pretentious purple dust
I'm losing the sparkle and that carnal life lust.
Now we turn to gazing at the paintings on the walls,
Remembering later dates and mirrors within memories.
I doubt the grasping in the textures there,
Growl a little tightly to my own half-cocked ear.
Wishing for some scented misty leap
Into unknown novelties and half-cracked hoax,
Maybe the pretense could be mimicked in the twilight there,
If we'd only reach across this vibrating dare.
Take up her offer and laugh with her games,
The chiming of the timepiece is winning.
Might make you call on her, knocking twice —
Carefully avoiding elegance and circumstance.
Summoning rebounding spheres and
Juggling innocence into the interlocking puzzle,
Smiling sweetly when she exhales warm breath
Close to your ear.
Just inside the corridor, the dark shadows are slinky-grinning,
And my father is patting my brother's back.
Justifications and camaraderie gone wrong.
My mother is wishing I might see the light soon and come home.
Sideways, the creeping has gone.
I'm echoing postures and silencing the cries.
Asking my eternal why's
With a melancholic grin.
My eyes are lying to him,
I can't imagine the energy staying put in this place.
At least in this little box-square
It will bounce and self-destruct bounce again
Until, leaving some mild death scent
We will relax into our drawn-up uncomfortables.
And put out the last cigarette to hold each other close,
Transform the hazy smoke into rainbow mirage.
Wake up you're only dreaming.
No, little obnoxious voice, you're only vainly screaming.
Your nightmare-preening echoed empty once,
And I trust you no more.
Positivism takes the floor.
Dance! Dance! You cloven-footed beast —
Make violent lovely circles in the sand.
Your mad visions swirl behind the clouds.
I've watched your dark murmurings from the graves
Off to the side.
I'm burning on the life force which you derange.
Sick laughter and bile sputterings,
I wonder at your presence and must momentarily push you aside.
A candle flame begins to climb the wall
Just right of center.
And your hand makes puppet animal dances on the ceiling.
I sigh lightly in relief,
Glancing toward the window and the vanishing thief,
Tricky, a little slipping in the dewy grass fields.
Ha! And even you can look me in the heart now
And probably still leave the party with my shadow.