he woke up
3rd day in a row next to her

the sheets felt hot on his legs
she was still asleep so he lit a cigarette
she coughed quietly in her sleep
and he thought
i'm killing her as i lay

so he got up carefully and went into the kitchen
he heated some butter

i don't want her to wake up
i feel too free now

he said aloud "stop it" and
resumed waiting on the bread to darken

"good morning"
startled, he burned himself on the pan
"ouch"
damnit "good morning hon"
damnit

"is it okay?"
she slid frustratingly over
and pulled his hand to her red eyes

"here, i'll make it better."
her tongue was unexpectedly cool on the
monticule de venus of his hand

damnit "thanks"
she withdrew and left the room

he felt complacent until she came back
"i'm getting a shower, babe
is your hand okay?"

stop it "yeah, it's fine" stop it
stop it
stop it

he watched her sullenly
as she left the room

and put his hand on the extended
black handle of the skillet

feeling blisters start against
the simple ward she had tried to make

02/19/2007

Posted on 02/20/2007
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