Poetry - Love

Affair

I

To you
I am no chalice
but a secret
breathing beneath your pillow
and on your wife’s side
of the bed
swimming on the
edge of your lips

your whiskers graze my thigh
a prickle bush
igniting a tiny flame
deep in my belly

your wife
watches us
from behind the dust
glazed nightstand

You.

When your head falls back
I see a gentle knot
roll down your throat
and I wonder
if you have
ever done this before -
wedged your willowy body
like a sliver
under a man’s skin
in places
where he is too afraid
of the pain
to dig you out

Her

Once again
I am contemplating you
over lunch
alone
with a fly tapping
against my office window
ceaseless buzzing
a fear I cannot
let out