she smiled at me
coquettish over her shoulder
& I felt the pain in my groin
mix of lust & wonder
would I ever be good enough?
nothing had yet been revealed
the trash behind all that poise
we dated a few times
made something between us
nights in her bed
days wandering the world
heading to some kind of future
that’s generally how this story goes
& then you wake one morning
head & eyes open to what lies around
seeing clearly for the first time
since that once backwards glance
this is how together would be
picking up her pieces left on the ground
being her trash man
holding everything together
supporting actor for her ain’t life grand?
so you drop the ball a couple of times
she don’t seem to notice
the trash getting deeper, higher
pattern missing to the floor
& you go missing yourself
see if that makes a difference at all
until you notice her looking over her shoulder
at somebody else
& you feel the pain soft in your head
you never were worthy enough
to be the picker upper, bag man
in somebody else’s score