R u m m y   P a r k

b y   R e b e c c a   L u   K i e r n a n


5.  My Dirty Mouth
 
 
We pitch pennies into the angel fountain
And the marble button that fell from your shirt,
Coax a frantic blue cat down
From chewing cobalt lights the the tree
Where she sees no way out,
Bait a fragile lavender gecko
Into the cup of our hands
With a dusty butterscotch.
 
You taunt me with what I said the night we met-
  I might be drunk but I love your long hair
  And I want you to sweep it over me head to toe
  And I think you're hot, hot as fucking fire
  And I need to kiss you full on the mouth
  Right here, right now
  And I'm sorry, but I mean this
  With the greatest respect,
  Just I saw you three times before
  When I was sober,
  And tonight's the night,
  Not to sodomize Rod Stewart,
  I mean plagiarize, of course.
(I remember bits of this,
 But think you're making up the rest.)
 
"Then what?" I roll my eyes.
  Then you grabbed my snakeskin shirt
  And ran your nose through my hair
  And against my neck
  And purred like a cat, whispered,
  "Honeysuckle, lilac, lime."
  Them you said, rather loudly
  You wanted to deep-throat me.
"That was not the night we met!
(Maybe it was.)
  Then I scooped you up
  And put you into a cab
  And we had pancakes
  For four hours the next day.
 
We laugh so hard
We can't even speak.
 
Love comes almost imperceptibly
Like ghosts in the rain,
Something deliciously alien
By molecules,
Not the headless flailing of arms
At the glass door,
No rattling of chains,
No blood-curdling moan.
Just a whisper in a voice
You recognize
Will someday be your own
Coming from everywhere
And nowhere at all,
Something impossibly sweet,
Yet somehow, undone
Commanding you to take this prisoner,
Watch the shadows bloom,
Let the silence drum,
Sway to the terrible dance of love,
Trapped in the neglect
Of your opening arms.