The Untitled... from 1988, page 4

 

I.

her heart was broken years ago

she mended it with a lover;

they were good for each other,

judging only themselves,

and the feeling brought with them

kept them together until they outgrew

the guilt of having a lover required.

May 1988

II.

you were forty

I was thirty

and she was six,

just a little thing

and now she is sixteen

and we both feel

older than we should.

May 1988

III.

I will never lie

to you as long as

we never marry.

May 1988

IV.

throughout my mind like

a Somerset novel, the

rain casts on me a plague

and I end up feeling

water-logged at best.

May 1988

V.

without the least little

bit of guilt they meet

each morning to share

the love that belongs

to someone else.

May 1988

VI.

her youth remains unchanged as 

their love continues year-after-year,

even when others pursue and she

learns what they can offer; still,

she decides to remain with him.

May 1988

VII.

her water soaked clothes 

showed off her aged body,

nothing of which to be proud

but enough to have men beg.

May 1988

VIII.

their feeling survived those days

they were apart and when their

minds are full of other thoughts

their memories store their love.

May 1988

IX.

their age difference did not matter to them

only that they wanted very much to share

what they felt when only they were together.

May1988

X.

outside the security of my private thoughts

a world of cruelty exists and women are

among the worst who play the game well.

May 1988