a cruel struggle to forget...

Infatuation

Infatuated with
a slim
winding road
that leads
from his
hips to
the floor
he sits
talking to himself in
several languages.
sea-tossed and
broke he plots
his escape.
occasionally
he can even smell
the time
his bicycle slips on
ice his thighs like a whisper
on the sheets.
there are those
who make a career of
misunderstanding
how easily they dissolve
still others mark time.
what happens next often
surprises a cruel struggle to
forget
even when it lasts.


by Jayne Lyn Stahl