| now when I don't want you blues |
you catch a whiff
of rose and our knees crumble
I’d like to say it took one night for
you to call but it’s been years
You did the work, making me
up as you wanted. Then, you said
I whined. I drank too much.
You’ve even got the color
of my dress wrong: I never
wear orange. But if it pleases you,
I’ll play along like any woman
faking orgasm. You think my
cheetah thighs, yours then,
were the silkiest, my mouth a
national treasure. There was
danger you write, my high heels
so close to your face.
So what if I was in ballet
shoes or sandals I’ll
go along, knowing
the farther I get from you
in time the more
you want me
—Lyn Lifshin
of rose and our knees crumble
I’d like to say it took one night for
you to call but it’s been years
You did the work, making me
up as you wanted. Then, you said
I whined. I drank too much.
You’ve even got the color
of my dress wrong: I never
wear orange. But if it pleases you,
I’ll play along like any woman
faking orgasm. You think my
cheetah thighs, yours then,
were the silkiest, my mouth a
national treasure. There was
danger you write, my high heels
so close to your face.
So what if I was in ballet
shoes or sandals I’ll
go along, knowing
the farther I get from you
in time the more
you want me
—Lyn Lifshin
Lyn Lifshin's poetry collection,
"Barbaro: Beyond Brokeness,"
about the courageous race
horse, is forthcoming from
Texas Review Press.
"Barbaro: Beyond Brokeness,"
about the courageous race
horse, is forthcoming from
Texas Review Press.
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