Venus Dejected

She was fucked up when I saw her sitting at the bar.
I could see her eyes flash with awareness when she
noticed it was me.  She slurred, "H e y, i t 's y o u!"
as she turned and placed her arms around me. I"d
never seen her so sloppy so early in the evening. I
couldn't see her with anyone. Just a broken-hearted
angel slumming it on a barstool with a drink resting
on the counter. I put my arms around her and felt
the scent of alcohol rise to my senses with no effort.
She said things had been a little rough but that she
was alright. Her boyfriend had broken up with her
recently, or perhaps it was the other way around.

I stopped keeping track of her relationships after
a while. I wanted to be one of them once. She put
me down gently, nor have I forgotten it. I can still
see the dress she was wearing the night I took her
out. I've never been one for fashion but I was made
greatly aware of my stylistic shortcomings that night.

It took her a moment to find her footing when she
stood. Her tight white shirt revealed the form of her
curves, normally perfectly proportioned, widening
out past their usual places. The corners of her eyes
were dams ready to burst, ready to overrun irises
that spoke of experience and secret oaths uttered
during frenzied reminders of the present.

I told her it was great seeing her, that it had been
too long. It had. I needed to get my things from
the car. She sat back down onto the stool. I made
sure she was safely settled before I walked out.
Our other friends were minutes away. I stepped
through the doors and stood there for a moment.
Cars rushed by and the air felt colder than usual.

Blurring

I texted C. to find out
if it was true about M.
She texted that it was.
I asked if M. was ok. As good
as she was going to get, she said.
C. and I were meeting that night
in downtown to get some drinks.
I always thought she was amazingly
beautiful, the kind of beauty
you couldn't help but think about
over and over. There was never
any real chance for the two of us
to go beyond our established norm
and that was fine. I loved her company.
We ended up meeting an hour later
than we had planned but given
the circumstances, understandable.
I told her I would be sitting out back
when she arrived.

She set her purse on the table.
Are you ok, I asked.
Yeah, she said as she reached
for my pack of cigarettes.
I pulled out my lighter
and flicked it to life,
just below the tip.
C. and M. were very close,
they were family.
M.'s life was inversely
proportional to her beauty.
She was never content until
the candles were a melted
waxy mess.

I don't know what else I can do
about her. I love her so much
but she keeps doing this.
I worry but I don't know if I can
keep this up. It's exhausting.

She looked away and took
a long drag and held it in.
I told her I'd be right back,
that I was going to get us
some drinks.

As I waited for the bartender
to bring me my pint of beer
and her whiskey coke (her drink
of choice), I thought about
all the times I had been around M.
I first met her at a birthday party
for C. a number of years back.
She wore fishnet stockings
that rode up under a clinging
leopard print dress.
We both got drunk that night
and chatted away.
I was smitten. I asked
for her number, she gave it.

I took the drinks back to our table.
C. was fidgeting with her phone.
Any new news, I said.
No, she said.
We held our drinks and I said,
to better days.

M. and I eventually wound up
going out not too long after.
I remember picking her up
from her apartment
and seeing her walk out
in a beautiful mod dress.
I had never had a woman
carry herself with such determined
confidence. She would tell me
soon after that she was not ready
to date anyone so soon after a breakup.
It may have been true
but I think it was her way
of rejecting me without having
to be unkind. In any case,
I appreciated the lie.

After a few more drinks
and a few more hours
C. asked me,
do you think M. will be ok?
I mean, not just after this,
but in the long run,
do you think she'll be fine?

I looked at her, too drunk
to be anything but honest.
I don't know
but I hope so, I said.
I hope so.

needless noir

she bathes in cigarette smoke and soft lighting,

her soul is a mirror in need of cleaning.

she sees you looking. you were trying not 

to stare. so much for that.

you drink your drink, pretend you're cooler

than the ice melting into the liquor.

the pump is working double-time, aqueducts

overflow. hot and cold fluids intersect.

cigarette in hand, she approaches. drink 

your drink. be cool

Let's Grow Old

You look like someone's 

very beautiful aunt.

As it turns out,

you are.

Hummingbird Incident (revised class submission)

A hummingbird accidentally

entangled itself in her

niece's hair, so she did 

what any aunt would do,

she reached over and began

to untangle them;

as you can imagine, there

was a shared anxiety 

between all three

as her hands began 

to separate hair

and hummingbird,

it was an unusual sight,

her hands trembled, 

seeking to harm neither

bird nor niece-

the young girl stayed 

as still as she could,

soon, her aunt held 

the hummingbird,

its wings still, neither flitting 

nor flying, merely sitting,

waiting for the right moment

to take flight once more.

Hummingbird Incident

A hummingbird accidentally
entangled itself into her
niece's hair, so she did
what any good aunt would do,
she reached over to niece
and hummingbird to untangle
them from one another;
as you can imagine, there
was a moment of anxiety
shared between all three,
as the aunt's hand began
to untangle the hair
and hummingbird from one
another, and yes it was a bit
of an unusual sight, though
one filled with a set of hands
delicately seeking to harm
neither hummingbird nor
niece- the young girl stayed
as still as she could, and soon
the hands of her aunt held
a hummingbird, its wings
were still, neither flitting
nor flying, merely sitting,
waiting for the right moment
to take flight once more.

manicured elegance

Towering behemoths shadow the patio

as we sip on sweaty drinks.

Elegance can be as simple a thing

as a black dress flowing over you.


Desire has brought me to this place.

It would do more if you let it.

Illumination softens the red

of your lips, a slight smear


on the glass. You excuse

yourself for a moment,

my gaze fixes upon you,

a natural state of hypnosis.


When you return our

uttered words close the space

between us further and further

until it no longer remains.

The Queen of the City Knows What You Wish

From here to nowhere, where does we begin?
A flashing thought flickers, blood rushes through.
I can hear them say your beauty is sin,
do not listen, what do they know of you?

Beauty is Beauty, it never grows old.
Flesh shall whither, memory will remain.
Eternal goddess, you never grow cold.
Your divine image will always have reign.

Queen of the City, Queen of Fantasy,
velvet words fall like leaves in the forest.
Your graceful hand reigns by soft writ decree.
Footsteps, I can see the hem of your dress.

Wake up, wake up. I look and see no one.
A dream, a vision that has come and gone.