Free Affection

Pahn is lying in a beige

modern classroom

surrounded by women

co-workers

talking happily after hours

Pluta is lying next to Pahn      her hand

beneath the blanket    touching

his bare thigh

speaking softly

he can feel

his penis

          just touching the side of her pinky 

He is thinking he will grow erect

and wondering if she will mind…

…the new woman speaks

older    dark    and solid conveying

a vague prohibition

of something…

…they go to another room

where Pluta    standing

says she has become sick

and must leave…

…Pahn is with another woman

tall and thin    like Pluta

who walks

comfortably with him             wandering

out of the building     and into the street

where Pahn thinks he is free

to be affectionate

his arm around her

and feeling love

They walk                                                           

 into a fruit store     that leads

into a mall

They are followed by another woman     who steals

a wide tray of fruit      for them

 

At the end                                                    

of the mall     a group of late-nighters

in evening gowns

comes through the glass door               Pahn

looks at their bare shoulders             and their breasts

 swelling      above their gowns          as they walk by

then goes with his companion

out into the street

  Pahn recognizes the corner

  where they’ve come out

and leads his date

across the street

into a Catholic cathedral        thinking

he will find a way out the other side 

They wind their way

through corridors        and stairways

that open periodically           onto a concert hall

and auditorium           that becomes

 immense as they climb

the ranks

of empty sage-green seats        sloping

into the distance

and finally

at the top of the stairs

they enter a room where confessions occur

donning the priests’ robes      and lying on couches…

…A man comes into the room

and asks to confess 

He sits by Pahn        and speaks      but Pahn

doesn’t pay attention 

Pahn falls asleep                                                                 

and during the night   he hears

a priest come into the room 

Pahn pulls over his hood                                                      

 to obscure his face     and lies motionless 

   The priest comes over to the couch                                    

to stand over Pahn

for a moment. 

    Pahn looks up                                                             

             surreptitiously                                                   

through his eyelashes           to see

the mans vague      dark      and hooded

figure looking down

then walking away

When Pahn arises

 in the morning             there is

a homeless man

cooking brownies in a skillet

 in the middle of the room 

Pahn walks over to him          eating

the last of his own brownies   thinking

the man’s brownies are made with weed

and his own were not

and that the man

would like him to eat the hallucinogenic ones

but Pahn

 is happy not to be stoned