Poetry Nook

featuring Lovejoy, Hall Monitor poet laureate

Editor's note: This poem originally appeared in the journal Poetry for the Next Millennium and is printed here with permission.

Ode to a Used Mattress*

A shadow of lipstick traces

or something else, maybe?

The musky scent of last night's cologne

a whiff of passion unspoken lingers

Patches slightly worn, frayed

rubbed, chaffed

The unyielding greasy stain of love.

A glimpse blossoms of a heart's memory

Yearning, craving, desire fulfilled

for another, at least

That's good enough, the voyeur sated

The evening returns, again, again

A drought of opportunity, I hope

Of motivation, I hope never!

Caress the newness of the oldness

Merge senses with a new soul, far off

never considered or seen

A vicarious ordeal created not of love

A product of longing, need, instinct

With pulses overflow I unite with a foreign past

Now mine, now mine!

*Explanatory note: In 1995 Kevin purchased a used mattress from his friend Mark. For the previous three years, Kevin had been sleeping on a fold-out couch, and his excitement at finally having a bed to sleep on inspired Lovejoy to write this poem.

Email for Lovejoy: Lovejoy refuses to acknowledge electronic mail.

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