the torrid time after
i watched your mouth move
heard nothing but an industrial buzz
a reasonable hum
saw you framed in the doorway
and in the twilight
you leaving and me forgetting
why i held this pen, this paper in my hand
- a grocery list? apologies i shouldn't
have to write?
but i remember now
cheap and fading
scenes of my life before- admonishment
a paper cut in the crook of the arm
retribution: the little pain
the minor sacrifice
throbs as i put the pen to paper
remembering what to do
and who i am
and why you could never help me
till you buzzed and hummed and went away
8/25/95
