Pseudo Djuturna

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…strolling thirstily
                      a University corridor
                     like an airport hallway
        looking for a fountain
finding water

                       in the basin
                                         of a potted plant

                                            in someone else’s cup

Coming to a lobby
                 like the reception area
                  of a private clinic
Pahn sees two students                                       

Across the room                                                   
there appears to be                         
a drinking fountain                     

but approaching it                                        
Pahn sees that it is    only ornamental               
with re-circulating water
not safe to drink

He stops to talk to the students                                      
because he is lonely for them                    

He tells them he is dying                                             
                   of thirst

One of them is blond                                                            
wearing brown and beige                  
and she smiles broader than belief                       
pulling a can of soda                        
from her net   bag              
saying                                                  

“Here
                              You can have this”

Pahn is reluctant                                                         
because he feels like he is mooching            
and he is afraid                                              
that soda will not slake his thirst

But he accepts it from her                                   
in shyness
drinking a long draught
        because he is so thirsty
and the taste is good—                              
                                         not as sweet as he expected
                                       the fizz not as coarse

Looking up                     
the other woman                                         
who is wearing              
the color of negation
is talking to him

and as she speaks                                    
her clothes become navy
                     and her hair lightens to brown

She is turning into Djuturna                                

He walks with her                                                     

with her calming blue eyes
suggesting water
and her penetrating smile
that runs down his throat
massaging                

                       the tension
from his chest

She tells him    she has a boyfriend                              
but that it’s all right                         

and they go to her dorm
to lie on her bed
                         with the boyfriend watching
                                               in the background

Lying on top of her
                      his arms under her shoulders
                            and his hands around her face
Pahn is nearly inside her                            
when she says
 
                      she is sorry but they can’t

because
she has forgotten her                         
                          Polypropylphenolene
that she takes                         
                                 to avoid pregnancy
or disease

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