|
The Tempest Suite
CALIBAN
I
I should go
away from here
where temptation’s
a rough flirt
willing the fate
I'm plotting
for myself
II
violence begets violence
falls now, to the sweet
swell of pleasure
a good fist brings
or the clean blade
made sudden red
wiped on your pants
forever its delicate russet
a reminder of the pattern
taking freedom makes
III
when I was hit
the pain didn't register
later my ribs ached
a year, maybe longer
I always sensed
the bruise
a mistranslation
we never did
really connect
there always were
lost words
between us
ARIEL
hunk like him
I always thought
his thighs
the turn of his shoulder
when lugging wood
spread of his hairy chest
a waste on that girl
he wanted her
I watched while he
jumped through the hoops
plotted for her
tried playing dumb
then cute
acting all-knowing
when he hoped
it would impress
brute strength came out
why shouldn’t it?
all that frustration—
in his shoes I’d have
made sure to slip it in
that’s not my fancy
I promise
far greater delights
await him
when we come to be alone
he shall find grace
in a new love
unsuspected
FERDINAND
he was gone
I fathomed that
anyway, a father
can be too close
I'd been drowning
under that sensation
the burden of all his dreams
he'd sunk into me
I had no space
to breathe, eat, sleep
I was repository
of his failing life
his hope of the new
all I ever wanted
was this escape
a forgotten place
my own time
the chance to make out
chase a bit of skirt
forgo the intricate
play of words
learn first hand instead
the diplomacy
of sex
|
