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Contemporary International Poetry
issue 9903:40

Michael Rothenberg

Wednesday noisy motors fuel 
The corner of Sutter and Kearny
Galleria Hotel hospitality suite
Room service, honor bar
Pay per view adult movies
Floral upholstered sofas
Pothos in Philippine baskets
Wall to wall royal blue carpets
Ice buckets and wine glasses

The bellboy bursts in with a delivery of 
Red and yellow roses
Grey-white pearls run down her wrist
I've got a hard-on
I'll never satisfy her desires
There's always something I could've done differently 
But I'm not in the habit of imitating
Even if I do make mistakes

A Chinese print of two love birds on a 
Limb, but no plum blossoms
Both of us afraid, neither one of us sure 
If we're doing the right thing
Looking for the right way to say it
Writing songs at the almost French table 
In the old San Francisco hotel room 
Watching yellow-lipped, blue-petalled lilies
In the faux Ming vase wondering 
Should I jump out the window? 
Should I leap through the glass? 
Beep, whoosh, hush
Pigeons on the windowsill warbling

Meanwhile the doorman's hedge of manicured 
Balls on reinforced wire trunks 
Stands immovable in terra cotta planters 
So when the bustle blows up Market St. 
The illusion will stay topiary