in the grocery store
you talked of how much you loved me
but you couldn’t answer the why
though i asked in a thousand ways
what it is about the mess of me
you find so appealing

i pointed out that you don’t know me
not really, not deeply or wholly
but it’s not your fault
i won’t let you in

my nonchalant tone threw you
who knows my smell
the feel of my hair
and that my left eye sits
slightly lower than my right
which you claim is adorable
and i begin to think that
if you paid attention
you’d know my left breast does the same
which you may not admire as much
but we dance around
details that we’d rather not admit
and truth becomes a playmate
we ignore far too often

i planned to cook
chicken stir-fry and sticky rice
with a dash of vinegar and cane sugar
delicately pungent and syrupy
a combination i love

you say that you never knew
my favorite flavor
is bittersweet
and you left me in the asian foods isle
desperately hunting
for chopsticks and green tea

05/27/2005

Posted on 05/28/2005
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