you refer to them as friends
they pour what
you

cannot have
cannot really want

the need you bring with
you

it has all been bookmarked
with a criminally bent page

chide them
and call them
names,
and over for darkness
you

toy with their guilt

her and I–many years ago
we got together in some sort of
holy alliance

judgmental (in front of god and all)

we lived it
in the way
our examples instructed us
but without
the cheating and alcohol

also without
the damp air
that is so present
in our breaths today
you

we are salamanders
and chameleons
we are fornicators
and we tip the barmaids

no expectations
all moral codes
encrypted for now
over-dreamt

© Tom Watters  5/23/06