escher poetry — [S] :: 1

in my dream i’d married her
& he came along on my first date
with a new girl
a third beauty was rightly there
a mutual friend i think

he was somewhat annoyed
he hadn’t been invited
“a wife should always share
his husbands’ lives”

but it was a minor miff
like a forgotten tea
keys left in the cat
a car unfed

human clouds of natural grey
emotion precisely identifies
the wife the girlfriend the other
none of whom actually are
one of whom really is

sitting on exactly remembered barstools
at the end of a high bench table
me in the near corner
three mists of female grace

what sack of musty emotion
created this nonsense
why did it assemble last night
why do i remember

well i know the last i couldn’t sleep
and i know the middle my job was scotched
and i know the first
ten years it’s still too strong

the kind of float
that might alight
as a deathbed regret

just one
of a thousand
why did i leave
the keys in the cat

without this dubious
emotional dredging
my poetry feels
a little less