HPN

Poetry of Issue #7 Page 21

I SEE YOU ACROSS MEMORIES EYES

I see you across memories eyes
younger then
feel the heat from the cookstove you turned on
see the brick walls

You had turned the lights out at your play
for affect
and people walked out

I see us in my first apartment
Someone is scaring me on the phone
you say to the voice
'Go fuck yourself'
I feel protected

We are in your apartment
with purple linen walls
it's winter
but I always feel warm in your bed

I see you as you looked when I first knew you
thin and bony
and your hair was black
but you hardly ever smiled

I see you the day my show
came back to town
you had sent me a telegram
'Call me'
We slept together that day
Uptown in someone else's apartment

I see us in a theatre lobby
we looked at each other like strangers
it was your show and you hadn’t invited me
someone else had
I was ashamed because the theatre playbill
said you were two years younger than me
In the lobby I didn’t talk to you
Later I called you up and said I was sorry
Your voice was a little hysterical
You didn’t care what I thought you said.

You called me your little sweetheart
and we slept together for six years

I see you in rooms apartments streets
I see you across memories eyes
I sometimes smell your smell.