Mar 19 2009
∞
April 5, 2008: To the Couple Lingering on the Doorstep, Deborah Landau
To the Couple Lingering on the Doorstep
Deborah Landau
Quit kissing beneath my window.
The day turns shady
as you lean
feeding, feeding.
Night arrives, red-gold
and windless
and still you persist.
I’ve had enough
slobber and gush.
And let me say this:
the problem with passion
isn’t that it doesn’t last
but that it does,
and you’ll find yourself alone in a room,
blistered and husky-voiced, watching
the side of your building turn to flame.
Beware a woman at a window,
something heavy in her hand.
A year ago: White Apples, Donald Hall
Two years ago: Late Confession, Gary Soto
Three years ago: Steps, Frank O’Hara
