I mouthed beer breathed approbation
at the invited wonder of your sister's sweatered breasts
the tableau set then,
for such delicious beginnings and shaky revisions,
once I left the "look but do not touch" misgivings
amongst the litter of a thousand such instructions
I borrowed that hazel eyed angel for a night
rescued from drowning in a clear bottled wasp trap
the fattened marital photo was covered,
alternating friends corrected and reassigned
their alibis and frightened lies
while heaven was briefly in our sights
and we shook and screamed the clearing of our names
from every future Christmas list
and yet
clearance comes only once inventory becomes stale
and folds around your wintered house,
offers no plan to buy or stamp a route to someplace else
slow submissions rattle my pen
this is no season for love and there is no reason to begin
other than there, in the shadows, where portraits breed desire
and while mirrors shall dream of falling
I am not through looking yet
for while fun and feuds begin with fucking
an ending always screams attention