the slant
a building settling around me
my figure, female, framed crookedly
in the threshold of the room
door scraping floorboards
with every opening
carving a rough history of bedroom scenes
the plot hard to follow
the text obscured
in the fields of sheets
slowly gathering the stains
of seasons spent lying there
red and brown
like leaves fallen
the colors of an eternal cycle
fading with the wash cycle
and the rinse cycle
again an unfamiliar smell
like my name misspelled
or misspoken
a cycle broken
the sound of them strong
stalking talking about their prey
like the way hammer meets nail
pounding, they say
pounding out the rhythms of attraction
like a woman was a drum like a body was a weapon
like there was something more they wanted
than the journey
like it was owed to them
steel toed they walk
and i'm wondering why this fear of men
maybe it's because i'm hungry
and like a baby i'm dependent on them to feed me
i am a work in progress
dressed in the fabric of a world unfolding
offering me intricte patterns of questions
rhythms that never come clean
and strengths that you still haven't seen
I'm calling from the diner
the diner on the corner
I ordered two coffees
one is for you
I was hoping you'd join me
'cause I ain't go no money
and I really miss you
I should mention that too
yes I know what time it is
in fact, I just checked
I even know the date
and the month
and the year
I know I haven't been sleeping
and when I do
I just dream of you
dear
I miss watching you
drool on your pillow
I miss watching you
pull on your clothes
I miss listening
to you in the bathroom
flushing the toilet
blowing your nose
I'm calling from the diner
the diner on the corner
I ordered two coffees
one is for you
the cups are so close
the steam is rising
in one stream
how are you
I think you're the least f**ed up
person I've ever met
and that may be as close to the real thing
as I'm ever gonna get
but my quarter's gonna run out now
or so I'm told
I guess I'd better go sit down
and wait for you
til my coffee gets cold