Poem 287

The title could be the time on the clock, a thin minute in which a vast gulf yawns … but also refers to cinq à sept – the early evening hours in France when affairs are conducted …

( I like the flat eye of sex and their lives (only) touching at the hip … )

Five To Seven

Here she is with her lover
in a borrowed bed sorting the shadows
on the ceiling from the stains
counting roses in the papered 
walls
           and he is trying to guess
whether they're afterglowing
or looking at life with the flat eye
of sex
            the oval moment when she's not
planning to meet him running
to meet him or going home
      head buzzing with lies

their lives touch at the hip
their heads on the same pillow
grow smaller and smaller
                                              with distance