With Only Their Clothes Between Them



…while Pahn and Yaohwa are talking on the street
Pahn notices a car    full of co-workers
parked along the curb nearby                                                                     
      
He walks alongside                                                                                     
He knows somehow                                                                                    
that Djuturna     is the driver 

The passenger door            is open             but                                            
no one inside sees him                                                      
notices him                       
     The car begins to pull from the curb             but Pahn                    
not wanting them to leave                                                        
without acknowledgment       leans                        
hard against it    for a moment     as it moves

    Pahn watches the car stop       thinks                
or imagines
he sees Djuturna
turn her head around
or look in the rear-view mirror 
 as
the vehicle reverses                                   
returning to the curb…                                                          

                                                                         …Across the street
                                                                             on the sidewalk
                                                                     up close to a building
                                                                             he and Djuturna
kiss                                                 
he does not remember                                                     
how their faces came together       
   or how the kiss began         but it is
very soft   damp                  
 and attached 

Pahn is afraid                                                                           
that the others will see them   
 He thinks of Aiks            
and his vows
and turns his head from Djuturna’s lips

Still
he doesn’t want her to                                                          
think he doesn’t want her                                              
and wants
and wants to be sure
that she knows he loves her
so continues to grasp her                                                  
thinking to himself      how
comfortable            
to hold her
their bodies a perfect fit                                       
with only their clothes         
between them        


No comments:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


Some of these poems originally appeared in the following publications

Avocet
Dream International Quarterly
mojo risin'
The Muse Apprentice Guild (The MAG)
Transfer

My Photos

www.flickr.com
brian dean bollman's photos More of brian dean bollman's photos