(Alex,
or 11 hours)
1.
Rugby
ears
Strong
arms
I saw
these things first,
Alex.
Or,
For a
so-called nice girl,
A
crazy thing to do.
2.
Alex,
Anti-trust
lawyer.
Whatever
that means.
(It
means you work for the bad guys.)
You
talk Oxford
Northern
tongue
(It
should all have been bullshit,
For
some reason
It
wasn’t.)
I
said,
Unemployed,
shiny new Masters degree.
(It
means I’m broke.)
You
said we’re a poor match,
I said
there’s no room in here
(Circling
gesture around my heart)
For
your kind,
Don’t
worry.
You
got wide eyes,
Laughing.
(I was
smiling too,
Does
that help?)
You
grinned,
Said
you’re back to London,
Night
after next.
I cut
you off there,
Couldn’t
hide another smile behind my glass.
3.
At
some point
You
read me every beer off the menu
In
excellent (or so it sounded)
German
You
lilted –
You
Americans and your one language.
I
rolled my eyes, Valley Girl.
4.
At
some point
You
were talking jazz
Country
music on long drives
Asked
me about books
(I
know what you want to hear.)
I say
Graham Greene
The
Corrections
You
moaned,
Franzen!
Oh,
Midwest America bullshit.
(We
are both being
Pretentious.)
Did I
almost kiss you then?
You
ask me, suddenly,
If I
have hobbies.
(Who
asks that?)
I
laugh and laugh,
Feel a
little bad,
Then
you laugh at you, too.
5.
Now
we’re walking
Wicker
Park witching hour
You
call out hipsters
Reminds
you Notting Hill
I
listen to cars and chatter
And
the color of your voice,
Like
fizzy spits in mouth.
6.
Now,
Taxi
cab.
That’s
one Commonwealth
Commonality.
7.
Sleep
is a distant dream.
8.
Sleep
is a distant dream.
9.
Think
we’re both tired now
But we
are still laughing.
(We
both know we've done a
Crazy
thing.)
10.
Sleep.
11.
I
close the door behind,
Only
thinking –
It’s
as if you were never even here.
Except
for the things you left behind,
Crumpled
up rug
Cologne
in hair
And
fizzy voice in my ear.
(It is
still a smiling hour.)
Yes,
it’s as if
You
were never even here.
And
oh, how that could be the only thing
I
could take and keep from you
And place in my heart.
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