I remember the pain--
Twin-sinks,
White as porcelain,
Cylindrical drain holes.
It crushed me
In the front seat of an old Ford.
Such a memory
On a dark night,
The vinyl seats
Stuck to our backs.
I thought of scrimshaw
And what the whale must think
As he looks back on a life
Marked with a knife
That cuts deep...permanent.
I drove that old Ford,
Nowhere to go
But the graveyard...
Where we once stopped
To briefly pet
The buttons of your blouse
Like petals plucked...
She loves me, she loves me not.
I remember the heat
Of the night,
Summer, balmy and bright,
The moon full,
Like a luminescent areola,
And the scent of adolescent perfume
Redolent...intoxicating.
I was drunk with you
Until I understood
There were tigers in your dreams...
Big cats that pawed you
In dark corners.
I saw the glint in their eyes
As they preyed on your soul.
As you walked with them,
I drove the old Ford
Knowing I was alone,
The night long and dark,
A star somewhere out there
For me...
But not this time...
Not this teenage night.
I remember the pain...
And so do you.