i
She knows this guy
John,
the furniture-lover.

He comes in
promptly at six, asks
how is your sister, waits

for her response.
He lounges, she assumes,
his feet up, holding

a lizard between
his toes          wrinkly.
He looks, strips

her with his eyes, asks
what do you wear
to sleep.

     ii
John is the furniture
lover. He is clean
as he mouths words

with spaces, like
   do you want to
have.....is it

"proper" this time
of night. All right
where is

your sister sleeping
soundly upstairs no one
to bother her.

     iii
John
is the lover of furniture.
He asks her to kiss

passionately, touch him
at the center
like this:

Put your lips
together close
to the screen: kiss

he convinces her
it is real,
would be, real.

     iv
John is the lover.
He asks her
for a memento of time

together, they can open up
possibilities
of questions, like

what are your
dimensions, bra size,
can I pretend

that you are
my next-door neighbor,
when can I see you

naked, on the computer
screen, why don't you just say
hello.

     v
John 
is the furniture.
He is in the shade

of ugly brown.
He grows fast
with mold, he curls

on top of her
old computer, an ornament
for the sake of

decorating her life
empty of meaning
of talk, of friends

of sex he loves
the furniture 
like that.