Friday, February 5, 2016

The intimacy of arguments ...


Outside my window,
        between dusty slats,
I saw him tap on the other's door.
I saw him breathe flare-nasaled
and pound three times more.
Door opened. They'd
never met before:

“What? What's going on?”
          “Are YOU smoking pot?”
Of course he was; he had daily times:
once, mid-morning, for writing;
once, mid-evening, to unwind.
“I'm sorry, who are you?”

                  “I live upstairs.”
“Oh God, so you're the one—”
“The one?” “Who clearly needs
vegetables, fiber, something fresh.
I almost cry when you take
those craps. I wretch.”

 And oh, man! He knew that
     was true; all our bathroom fans
sharing one common vent. we'd hear
his flush; sometimes, we'd both
step outside. But he said it.

   “Well, I!–” “Dude, you do.”
 And then the words were pointless.
I watched them moving closer, outside:
      turning bright red, and thick-
veined, and sharp-eyed.

 Trading back-forth breaths
  in one hot space, catching stray
spit-flicks from each others' tongues.
   So ripe for an outburst; a wink
          or— a kiss.

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