Gears turn
The unnoticeable increments
Cogs meshing with cogs
Under the surface
Unseen
But felt
For too long

Fingertips
Run across the length
The fibers seem to rise to meet
The nerve endings that send the message
To my brain
These words were meant to remain hidden
Within the folds
College ruled bars
Keep the words in
Safe within the creases

The rope tightens
At first from the base
Then along its length
Straightening
Seemingly growing
From its coiled beginnings
To its rigid completion
The release
And slowly returns
Coiled in waiting
Until next time

Across the room
You tempted me
I caved
For a moment
We were alone
We were one
As my lust increased
So did your affection
How could I escape such an embrace?
I couldn't
And then we were no longer alone
And the mayonnaise
And the laughter

Don’t worry
I won’t let on
Your partially buttoned collar
Your freckled clavicle
Peering out from behind your hair
I can see your underthings
Clinging to the perspiration
And the expiration
You’re my inspiration

Can you tell
By the look on my face
That while you sit
Anticipating my stance
I am removing each article
And placing them folded
Back in your drawers

Tentacles, tendrils, invading, intruding
Suffocate the sulci
What is, seems otherwise
What seems, isn’t
A succubus, seducing
An incubus, enticing
Beckoning
“Follow me.”

A steady trickle
Tiny droplets
Against the granite
Cutting holes where once were none
Particles carried on the wind
Smoothing jagged faces
Polishing
Destroying?
Ask the mountain.

Crumbled, cracked gravel
Where once was mortar
Between the sarsen stones
Whose purpose you ignored

Thank you.