Inbetween

[Jerrybaldy]

As you undressed I knew
this would never be love.
It wouldn't even see it through
to tomorrow's sunset.
It was new years eve
and I was dressed as a pirate,
painted moustache and eyepatch,
a swashbucking singleton.
Shaking off one marriage,
yet to fall for the next.
A year ending is an aphrodisiac
to compete with death.
Soon you are sliding out of things
and slipping into bed.
I took you and you accepted me
aroused by the hours since meeting.
Passion spent, we cuddled like lovers.
I stroked your hair, like I cared.
You placed your head on my chest,
like I had come home from a hard day.
Then we slept entwined
like we needed to.
When we awoke,
new years day was all but over.
I watched you dress
with no yearning to stop you.
I drove you home
and we kissed cheeks,
already removed
from intimacy.
You smiled as I suggested
we swap numbers
but it was that time in the plot,
so we had little choice.
Years on, I dont remember
how hard we came,
but I still remember
how two untangled strangers,
held on like lovers
inbetween sex and goodbye.

[Delta40]

I remember the reflux this stuff gives me when I'm alone....

very nicely written and framed

[Buh4Bee]

This is hard stuff:

Shaking off one marriage,
yet to fall for the next.
A year ending is an aphrodisiac
to compete with death.

The ending is superb! The poem is captivating, because it is so raw and captures the pain and solice from the transitioning time.

[Haunted]

So true of life's endless paradoxes, get out before we even get in...bodies entangled without getting attached...

I'm sitting here for 5 minutes trying to figure out the metaphor "A year ending is an aphrodisiac / to compete with death." Without having it figured out yet I still to say I love this poem.

[Maryd.]

Jerry this poem made me sad and happy at the same time. I really enjoy reading your work. It has such style and class. Keep them coming.

[hillwalker]

Yet another great poem Jerr - you are reaching your peak (Seuss-lapse aside). There are some great lines here that add bite to the mood without sounding as if they were placed there merely to sound smart.

A year ending is an aphrodisiac
to compete with death.

in particular brings the whole episode back down from euphoria to reality.

One thought I did have after reading it was that it's a shame it ends the way it does - petering out into the mundane politics of casual relationships/one night stands.

At the expense of losing some great lines that folow

but it was that time in the plot,
so we had little choice. - (I loved so perhaps these could be included earlier to avoid sacrifice),

I felt it would have been more poignant to make

I watched you dress
with no yearning to stop you.

or something similar your exit line (to match the opening 2 lines).......... just a thought.

H

[dafydd manton]

What can I say that hasn't already been said? Excellent stuff, Jerry.

[PrinceMyshkin]

However did I come to miss this fine, fine poem? That ending is the sort of killer that the truth, plainly spoken, so often is!

[Jerrybaldy]

what fun to see an old friend resurface and to have a fast becoming old friend find it. thanks Prince

[dafydd manton]

I have a horrible feeling this was the end of '86 - I might have been at the same party.

[Jerrybaldy]

You mean .... it was you in the corner in the duck suit with the guiness?