Church
a man and a woman repeat
a priest,
stand and sit and stand and sit
back down
their spouses
rising, then returning
to sit beside
them.
nearly touching sides, they
listen to the Sunday Sermon, then
touch hands, reaching
for the same
hymnal
in excelsis deo
Looking up to smile—polite—
they blush, feel
ashamed and look
away
denying the fruit was
ever there.
Crowded Room
a man and a woman say
too much with their eyes,
staring at each other,
standing on opposite
sides of a crowded room.
The First Meeting
a man and a woman meet
beneath flickering
lamp light
they do not speak;
their eyes meet.
And they know
something unexpected
passed
between them
The tension can only
build; they
both
have homes
Neither the man
nor the woman
want to leave happiness, so
they
part and stay on opposite
sidewalks, walking sideways
to face each other.
The woman thinks,
Desire is danger, and turns
to walk straight
The man thinks,
This is only fiction, and walks
toward her.
Daydreams
a man and a woman can’t
sleep
during the day.
and at night they meet and watch
the moon and never say
a
word.
they do not move. This
builds
tension
They are Very Close to Removing a Line
a man and a woman sit
in a café and sip
coffee
They read fiction.
Lights glow dim, red (like
the exit sign)
When the woman sets her
Coffee… Mmm
down,
loosening her fingers from
the handle
the man raises the rim of his
Bold Beans
to his lips and sips and
stares
at
every expanding breath.
She tilts her book up, closer
to her face.
He stands for a better view
of what fiction only gives him
in part—reality.
And she pretends not to notice him
stand and stare and stretch and sit back
down.
But this is why she sits with him in cafes,
in silence—reading, always only reading—
to create real danger.
Real Danger
a man and a woman want
to have sex, but
their spouses want to make
Love.
Falling
Falling
God spoke
to a man and a woman
and now
they know
something
about Him
but
sometimes
wish they didn’t.
Ignorance is(n’t) bliss.
The Forbidden Fruit is Not an Apple
a man and a woman pretend
to be
Adam and Eve
hiding in a tree,
covering themselves with fig
leaves
and
fall
)
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)
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