In Mutual Understanding

 

She with hair like a valkyrie wearing wolfskin
beautiful
but no longer pretty
long misshapen serpent percolating in her gypsy whiskey
perched on the washing machine grinning
ice cubes clink abstract painting fluorescent reflections
a sleeping child
avenues and directions
golden sips lubricating conversation
in and out in and out
in and out
clammy with wet remark and soused tart
fingerprints on the plastic light switch
dishes in piles drizzled with last night's late-night dinner
our bellies warm
but a pinch below
burning.

boy's underwear in the laundry basket.
empty television noise.
the glow.
the smell of a place
I do not recognize.

the knife on the floor.

she looks at me
cursed
sex
knotted
her stolen youth
leviathan of untamed love
colossus
clown
criminality
deep deep abyss
we both know
one of us HAS to go for it.

the knife on the floor.

one of us HAS to die.

TA