i.

making love           like going to war
outside it is light                   he wakes me
tongue in ear                    i'll never listen again

forgetting an umbrella  and arriving
twenty minutes late             t-shirts soaked
speaking german                 at dinner in prague

going to confession   at the local bar
saying hail marys      pounding our glasses
he kisses the lime                 off of my forehead

ii.

  flirting             with self-destruction   
crying oatmeal tears     crashing a bicycle

ground softens           leaves and rot
sewer rat dies                    of a broken heart

iii.

sleeping                  in separate beds
white sheets            raised like white flags
in church i curse       the pews bruise my knees