"November (II)" by Giovanni Dania

November (II)

And I watched
While my hands did something else,
And I observed:

I saw distant hands beating into
Your conniving face,
I watched them senselessly bludgeon
Your once-sweet smile to a dimly recognizable memory:
No one will love you now, a vaguely familiar
Voice said. It sounded so much like me!
I laughed as I felt your teeth turn to dust
Underneath my bleeding fists.
My tears burned down my cheeks;--
Yours must have, too, as they streamed over
Exposed, richly red striated muscle.
But your tears meant nothing to me, not anymore.

And I watched,
As I strangled you, all the bitterness translated
To neural impulses traveling to my fingers.
I watched your neck turn purple, your lips turn blue,
Your eyes glaze over.
I no longer felt the sadness, the pain, the longing:
The source of it all was gone.

November 11, 2000